GUJARAT BUILT WORLD'S FIRST NAVAL DOCKYARD; GUJARAT AND ARAB SHIPS

[and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)]

Forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman

Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard; Gujarat and Arab ships

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Foraminifera as tool in Marine Archaeology

Rajiv Nigam
National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa-403 004
Email: ***@nio.org <***@nio.org>

Foraminifera are preferentially marine micro organisms and very
sensitive to the slightest changes in environment. Because of this
property, they have been used extensively in pollution monitoring and
because of their fossilization potential, in paleoclimatic
reconstructions.

Since the common aim of paleoclimatic studies and archaeology lies in
the illumination of the past, particularly beyond the written
history, it is apparent to bring coherence between the two.

Number of attempts have been made to understand the distribution and
ecology of foraminifera along the western continental margin of India
to confirm the climatic inferences drawn through archaeological
studies and even to offer explanations for some of the archaeological
controversies peculiar to Indian region.

Application of foraminifera in the field of Marine Archaeology can be
classified into two main categories i.e. (i) event related to sea
level fluctuations and (ii) changes in paleoprecipitational history.
Few examples can be cited here to exhibit applicability of
foraminifera in archaeology. With the help of foraminiferal
occurrence it was conclusively proved that the rectangular structure
at Lothal (Harappan Settlement) was a dockyard (first Naval dock
yard) of the world as claimed by archaeologists) and not a fresh
water storage tank. The studies also provided support for
archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC. The
updated sea level curve for the Arabian Sea region helped to offer
explanation of the most recent finding of the Neolithic settlements
in the Gulf of Cambay area, Gujarat.

http://www.nio.org/index.php?option=com_eventdisplay&task=view&tid=4&id=30

Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard

Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN,
Feb 25, 2010, 07.11am IST

Ahmedabad: About 75 km from here lies a landmark of Indian maritime
history. Archaeologists believe the first tidal dockyard in the world
was built in Lothal. A port city, Lothal was the focal point of
Harappan civilisation in Gujarat.

Built here was the earliest known dock in the world, equipped to
berth and service ships. Lothal engineers studied tidal movements and
their effects on brick-built structures and constructed kiln-burnt
brick walls.

In a paper 'Foraminifera As Tool In Marine Archaeology', Rajiv Nigam
of National Institute of Oceanography states: "With the help of
foraminiferal occurrence it was conclusively proved that the
rectangular structure at Lothal, Harappan settlement, was a dockyard
-- first naval dockyard of the world as claimed by archaeologists --
and not a fresh water storage tank. The studies also provided support
for archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC."

Archaeologist S R Rao, who excavated Lothal site, writes, "Lothal
dockyard had features which in terms of height, width, and length
compared favourably with the modern dockyards of Bombay and
Visakhapatnam."

Boats of 60-75 tonnes capacity and 20-25 metres in length could enter
Lothal dock, which was designed in such a manner as to ensure
berthing 20-30 boats of a fairly large size. Large foreign and Indian
ships could enter the harbour without any difficulty.

The Harappan merchants and navigators were familiar with Indian Ocean
routes and overseas markets. In those days, Gujaratis traded with
countries like Iraq (Mesopotamia), Qatar, Persia and Egypt.

"The brick-laid docks, wharfs, jetties and warehouses provided
infrastructure facilities to the inland and maritime trade, while
bullock-carts provided transportation. Add to this the Harappans'
knowledge of weight and measures, which enabled customs officials to
count and collect revenues from imports and exports, and we get
glimpses of an administrative set-up of considerable sophistication,"
writes historian Makrand Mehta in 'History of International Trade And
Customs Duties In Gujarat'.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-worlds-first-naval-dockyard/articleshow/5614022.cms

Gujarat built mosques to draw Arab ships

Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN, Feb 17, 2010, 05.45am IST

Ahmedabad: Can you imagine a non-Muslim building a mosque in 21st
century India? May sound impossible today. But, two far-sighted Jains
built one of the earliest mosques in Gujarat, a state that has seen
some of the worst post-independence communal riots.

And, all this for the sake of business. Between 1178 and 1242,
Vastupal and Sheth Jagdusha built mosques in Cambay and Bhadreshwar
in Kutch to attract Arab and Turkish traders, who would bring in
foreign exchange. While Vastupal was the commissioner of Cambay port,
Jagdusha was a merchant of Bhadreshwar port in Kutch. Jains have been
an important business community from the earliest time till today.

'History of International Trade And Customs Duties In Gujarat', a
book by historian Makrand Mehta, says Vastupal encouraged Muslims to
settle down in Cambay and Anhilwad Patan, the capital of the Solanki-
Vaghela rulers of Gujarat.

The accounts of Arab travellers like Masudi Istakhari Ibn Hauqal and
others, who visited Gujarat between the 9th and 12th centuries, amply
testify to the settlements of Muslims in Cambay and other cities of
Gujarat.

"But the Muslims settlements could hardly have developed without the
support of the Solanki rulers. In fact, they attracted the Arabs and
Persians to Cambay and Vastupal did it by constructing mosques for
them," says Mehta.

Jagdusha was not officially designated as a customs collector but he
had cultivated excellent relations with ship captains and customs
staff. Although a devout Jain, as a staunch businessman he understood
the value of foreign exchange. "For this reason he also constructed a
mosque in Bhadreshwar, his hometown," according to the book.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-mosques-to-draw-Arab-ships/articleshow/5582255.cms

End of forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.

Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Post by and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
Forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman
Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard; Gujarat and Arab ships
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Foraminifera as tool in Marine Archaeology
Rajiv Nigam
National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa-403 004
Foraminifera are preferentially marine micro organisms and very
sensitive to the slightest changes in environment. Because of this
property, they have been used extensively in pollution monitoring and
because of their fossilization potential, in paleoclimatic
reconstructions.
Since the common aim of paleoclimatic studies and archaeology lies in
the illumination of the past, particularly beyond the written
history, it is apparent to bring coherence between the two.
Number of attempts have been made to understand the distribution and
ecology of foraminifera along the western continental margin of India
to confirm the climatic inferences drawn through archaeological
studies and even to offer explanations for some of the archaeological
controversies peculiar to Indian region.
Application of foraminifera in the field of Marine Archaeology can be
classified into two main categories i.e. (i) event related to sea
level fluctuations and (ii) changes in paleoprecipitational history.
Few examples can be cited here to exhibit applicability of
foraminifera in archaeology. With the help of foraminiferal
occurrence it was conclusively proved that the rectangular structure
at Lothal (Harappan Settlement) was a dockyard (first Naval dock
yard) of the world as claimed by archaeologists) and not a fresh
water storage tank. The studies also provided support for
archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC. The
updated sea level curve for the Arabian Sea region helped to offer
explanation of the most recent finding of the Neolithic settlements
in the Gulf of Cambay area, Gujarat.
http://www.nio.org/index.php?option=com_eventdisplay&task=view&tid=4&...
Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard
Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN,
Feb 25, 2010, 07.11am IST
Ahmedabad: About 75 km from here lies a landmark of Indian maritime
history. Archaeologists believe the first tidal dockyard in the world
was built in Lothal. A port city, Lothal was the focal point of
Harappan civilisation in Gujarat.
Built here was the earliest known dock in the world, equipped to
berth and service ships. Lothal engineers studied tidal movements and
their effects on brick-built structures and constructed kiln-burnt
brick walls.
In a paper 'Foraminifera As Tool In Marine Archaeology', Rajiv Nigam
of National Institute of Oceanography states: "With the help of
foraminiferal occurrence it was conclusively proved that the
rectangular structure at Lothal, Harappan settlement, was a dockyard
 -- first naval dockyard of the world as claimed by archaeologists --
and not a fresh water storage tank. The studies also provided support
for archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC."
Archaeologist S R Rao, who excavated Lothal site, writes, "Lothal
dockyard had features which in terms of height, width, and length
compared favourably with the modern dockyards of Bombay and
Visakhapatnam."
Boats of 60-75 tonnes capacity and 20-25 metres in length could enter
Lothal dock, which was designed in such a manner as to ensure
berthing 20-30 boats of a fairly large size. Large foreign and Indian
ships could enter the harbour without any difficulty.
The Harappan merchants and navigators were familiar with Indian Ocean
routes and overseas markets. In those days, Gujaratis traded with
countries like Iraq (Mesopotamia), Qatar, Persia and Egypt.
"The brick-laid docks, wharfs, jetties and warehouses provided
infrastructure facilities to the inland and maritime trade, while
bullock-carts provided transportation. Add to this the Harappans'
knowledge of weight and measures, which enabled customs officials to
count and collect revenues from imports and exports, and we get
glimpses of an administrative set-up of considerable sophistication,"
writes historian Makrand Mehta in 'History of International Trade And
Customs Duties In Gujarat'.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-world...
Gujarat built mosques to draw Arab ships
Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN, Feb 17, 2010, 05.45am IST
Ahmedabad: Can you imagine a non-Muslim building a mosque in 21st
century India? May sound impossible today. But, two far-sighted Jains
built one of the earliest mosques in Gujarat, a state that has seen
some of the worst post-independence communal riots.
And, all this for the sake of business. Between 1178 and 1242,
Vastupal and Sheth Jagdusha built mosques in Cambay and Bhadreshwar
in Kutch to attract Arab and Turkish traders, who would bring in
foreign exchange. While Vastupal was the commissioner of Cambay port,
Jagdusha was a merchant of Bhadreshwar port in Kutch. Jains have been
an important business community from the earliest time till today.
'History of International Trade And Customs Duties In Gujarat', a
book by historian Makrand Mehta, says Vastupal encouraged Muslims to
settle down in Cambay and Anhilwad Patan, the capital of the Solanki-
Vaghela rulers of Gujarat.
The accounts of Arab travellers like Masudi Istakhari Ibn Hauqal and
others, who visited Gujarat between the 9th and 12th centuries, amply
testify to the settlements of Muslims in Cambay and other cities of
Gujarat.
"But the Muslims settlements could hardly have developed without the
support of the Solanki rulers. In fact, they attracted the Arabs and
Persians to Cambay and Vastupal did it by constructing mosques for
them," says Mehta.
Jagdusha was not officially designated as a customs collector but he
had cultivated excellent relations with ship captains and customs
staff. Although a devout Jain, as a staunch businessman he understood
the value of foreign exchange. "For this reason he also constructed a
mosque in Bhadreshwar, his hometown," according to the book.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-mosqu...
End of forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
     o  Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
     o  If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
     o  Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Post by and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
Forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman
Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard; Gujarat and Arab ships
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Foraminifera as tool in Marine Archaeology
Rajiv Nigam
National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa-403 004
Foraminifera are preferentially marine micro organisms and very
sensitive to the slightest changes in environment. Because of this
property, they have been used extensively in pollution monitoring and
because of their fossilization potential, in paleoclimatic
reconstructions.
Since the common aim of paleoclimatic studies and archaeology lies in
the illumination of the past, particularly beyond the written
history, it is apparent to bring coherence between the two.
Number of attempts have been made to understand the distribution and
ecology of foraminifera along the western continental margin of India
to confirm the climatic inferences drawn through archaeological
studies and even to offer explanations for some of the archaeological
controversies peculiar to Indian region.
Application of foraminifera in the field of Marine Archaeology can be
classified into two main categories i.e. (i) event related to sea
level fluctuations and (ii) changes in paleoprecipitational history.
Few examples can be cited here to exhibit applicability of
foraminifera in archaeology. With the help of foraminiferal
occurrence it was conclusively proved that the rectangular structure
at Lothal (Harappan Settlement) was a dockyard (first Naval dock
yard) of the world as claimed by archaeologists) and not a fresh
water storage tank. The studies also provided support for
archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC. The
updated sea level curve for the Arabian Sea region helped to offer
explanation of the most recent finding of the Neolithic settlements
in the Gulf of Cambay area, Gujarat.
http://www.nio.org/index.php?option=com_eventdisplay&task=view&tid=4&...
Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard
Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN,
Feb 25, 2010, 07.11am IST
Ahmedabad: About 75 km from here lies a landmark of Indian maritime
history. Archaeologists believe the first tidal dockyard in the world
was built in Lothal. A port city, Lothal was the focal point of
Harappan civilisation in Gujarat.
Built here was the earliest known dock in the world, equipped to
berth and service ships. Lothal engineers studied tidal movements and
their effects on brick-built structures and constructed kiln-burnt
brick walls.
In a paper 'Foraminifera As Tool In Marine Archaeology', Rajiv Nigam
of National Institute of Oceanography states: "With the help of
foraminiferal occurrence it was conclusively proved that the
rectangular structure at Lothal, Harappan settlement, was a dockyard
 -- first naval dockyard of the world as claimed by archaeologists --
and not a fresh water storage tank. The studies also provided support
for archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC."
Archaeologist S R Rao, who excavated Lothal site, writes, "Lothal
dockyard had features which in terms of height, width, and length
compared favourably with the modern dockyards of Bombay and
Visakhapatnam."
Boats of 60-75 tonnes capacity and 20-25 metres in length could enter
Lothal dock, which was designed in such a manner as to ensure
berthing 20-30 boats of a fairly large size. Large foreign and Indian
ships could enter the harbour without any difficulty.
The Harappan merchants and navigators were familiar with Indian Ocean
routes and overseas markets. In those days, Gujaratis traded with
countries like Iraq (Mesopotamia), Qatar, Persia and Egypt.
"The brick-laid docks, wharfs, jetties and warehouses provided
infrastructure facilities to the inland and maritime trade, while
bullock-carts provided transportation. Add to this the Harappans'
knowledge of weight and measures, which enabled customs officials to
count and collect revenues from imports and exports, and we get
glimpses of an administrative set-up of considerable sophistication,"
writes historian Makrand Mehta in 'History of International Trade And
Customs Duties In Gujarat'.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-world...
Gujarat built mosques to draw Arab ships
Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN, Feb 17, 2010, 05.45am IST
Ahmedabad: Can you imagine a non-Muslim building a mosque in 21st
century India? May sound impossible today. But, two far-sighted Jains
built one of the earliest mosques in Gujarat, a state that has seen
some of the worst post-independence communal riots.
And, all this for the sake of business. Between 1178 and 1242,
Vastupal and Sheth Jagdusha built mosques in Cambay and Bhadreshwar
in Kutch to attract Arab and Turkish traders, who would bring in
foreign exchange. While Vastupal was the commissioner of Cambay port,
Jagdusha was a merchant of Bhadreshwar port in Kutch. Jains have been
an important business community from the earliest time till today.
'History of International Trade And Customs Duties In Gujarat', a
book by historian Makrand Mehta, says Vastupal encouraged Muslims to
settle down in Cambay and Anhilwad Patan, the capital of the Solanki-
Vaghela rulers of Gujarat.
The accounts of Arab travellers like Masudi Istakhari Ibn Hauqal and
others, who visited Gujarat between the 9th and 12th centuries, amply
testify to the settlements of Muslims in Cambay and other cities of
Gujarat.
"But the Muslims settlements could hardly have developed without the
support of the Solanki rulers. In fact, they attracted the Arabs and
Persians to Cambay and Vastupal did it by constructing mosques for
them," says Mehta.
Jagdusha was not officially designated as a customs collector but he
had cultivated excellent relations with ship captains and customs
staff. Although a devout Jain, as a staunch businessman he understood
the value of foreign exchange. "For this reason he also constructed a
mosque in Bhadreshwar, his hometown," according to the book.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-mosqu...
End of forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
     o  Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
     o  If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
     o  Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thread/thread/8a1efe054a3bf157/1b416b79cddb669b

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thread/thread/8a1efe054a3bf157/39078a38d2496b48

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Priest rebukes RSS chief's Hindutva view
By: John Malhotra
Friday, 5 March 2010, 17:30 (IST)

The spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, Fr. Anand
Muttungal, has hit out at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief
Mohan Bhagwat for his statement that "Indians were Hindus and if one
was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian."

"His logic is faulty and it is a blatant negation of Indian
Constitution and disrespect to the secular fabric of India," responded
Muttungal, who chided the RSS for "trying hard eighty-four years to
indoctrinate the secular conscience of this country to buy its concept
of Hindu Rashtra."

At a gathering of Hindus in Bhopal, Bhagat reportedly said, “Jesus
Christ was a revered figure and so was Prophet Mohammad, but India
could not be united in their names."

Responding to the statement, Muttungal in an article titled "Warning
Bell to RSS", said it was "an indirect call to incite communal
passion."

"He tells people that Lord Jesus and Prophet Mohmmad are revered
figure but in their name, India cannot be united because they are not
Indians. Any person with common sense would understand that it is a
silly logic. How could one believe this for the simple reason that
this organization continues to praise a western infamous figure Hitler
even today," wrote Muttungal.

"He also went on to say that western life style we should not embrace.
It is very interesting to see him standing in shorts and Shirt, a
purely western dress. This organization needs to abandon its western
identity," he added.

Says Muttungal, "negative publicity is more publicity" and it is a
general principle that works in the media.

"If we analyse the statements made by this organization about
Christians regarding religious conversion, it must be honestly told
that it has given wide publicity to Christianity and it's work in the
country," he noted.

"People are made to think seriously, what is it that makes Christians
to work hard with all these abuses. There is an eagerness created
among a good number people to know more about Christians. It is a
warning bell to the RSS that it can no more go ahead with it's
poisonous ideology against this nation and its constitution."

Copyright © 2010 Christian Today

http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/priest-rebukes-rss-chiefs-hindutva-view/5210.htm

Ganesh Sovani's Blog
Just another WordPress.com weblogMF Husain saga depicts the duplicity
of pseudo secularists !

Defiance unabated
Ever since the celebrated painter Mr.


Husain's nude Bharatmata
Makbool Fida Husain declared his intention to settle down at Doha,
Qatar and accept her citizenship, the media in India has virtually
gone crazy.

Series of articles, debates, public views, edits are being scribbled
down and published day after day in news papers by many, mostly
blaming the Government of India over its failure to ‘protect the world
renowned painter’. !

Electronic media too is also not far behind. In fact, there seem to be
a stiff competition between Pranab Roy’s NDTV 24 X 7 and Rajdeep
Sardesai’s CNN IBN (both known for their perennial left leanings) in
outsmarting each other in airing the special reports, programmes,
debates, surveys, opinion polls, talks, etc. in which the entire
emphasis is on the bashing up Hindu organizations like RSS, VHP,
Bajrang Dal, etc. for being primarily responsible for hounding the
painter hailing from Lord Viththal’s holy place of Pandharpur in the
Solapur in the Western Maharashtra State of India.

On the TV shows, the likes of Anjali Ela Menons (has she taken
Husain’s vakalatnama?) have been blatantly attacking Hindu
organizations for being solely responsible for Husain’s exist from
India.

Times Now which has undoubtedly maintained its credibility by not
aligning with any one on any issue, ever since it was launched three
years ago, has consistently maintained through its ebullient anchor
Arnab Goswami that MF Husain has gone record by saying that it were
the commercial considerations that have influenced him more in
accepting Qatari citizenship, as he is involved in a multi million
project kicked up by first lady of Kingdom of Qatar.

On his part, the RSS Chief Mr. Mohan Bhagwat has categorically gone on
record by saying that his organization was never and is not averse to
MF Husain in staying back India, as he is the citizen by birth and
there was no danger to his life from anyone in India.

However, other Hindu outfits like VHP and Bajrang Dal have
consistently maintained that bare footed painter must apologize to the
whole nation as he has denigrated Goddess Saraswati and Bharatmata by
depicting them in nude in the past and exhibiting in the public
gallery. It’s not a first instance of these Hindu outfits seeking an
apology from the controversial painter! These have been demanding it
ever since Husain ventured into these mischievous acts few years ago!

After the news of Husain securing Qatari nationality broke out in the
last week, Shiv Sena Chief Mr. Bal Thackeray, true to his own style
and character lambasted the painter in his typical ‘Thakri’ language
through an edit of Samana in its edition dated 2nd February and have
gone to the extent of accusing MF Husain as treacherous for having
ditched his own motherland which have given him name and fame. In fact
Samana in the same issue carried a front page interview of Husain’s
maternal brother Kutubuddin Bohri, who too has flayed his brother
painter for ditching India and fleeing to a foreign land.

It’s not a coincidence that until Bal Thackeray wrote on him, Husain
had not opened up his mouth on the whole affair. But barely within
twenty four hours after Samana carried an editorial on him, Husain
gave his maiden interview to Gulf edition of Malayalam Manorama and
tried to clear off the air. But sadly, his defence is totally
unconvincing and he still seems to be defiant in his attitude and has
not expressed any remorse or regret for hurting the sentiments of the
majority of the Indians with his over zealous caricatures.

While the BJP reacted on the same lines, as its parent body RSS did,
Congress, as is its wont has been taking some what an ambivalent stand
on this episode. Though home minister Mr. P. Chimdambaram attempted to
assure Husain that his government would do all it can to protect the
nonagenarian painter, should he returns to India. Apart from PC,
Congress is not coming out firmly on this issue. Can it be seen that
the Congress is bit cautious now, as the UP assembly elections are not
far away, as any attempt to stoutly defend Husain from Congress
platform might cause any dent on its Hindu votes from UP ?

The moot question that arises in this matter, is why the pseudo
secularists are not condemning Husain’s act of depicting the Hindu
characters, Saraswati and Bharatmata and , etc. in a denigrating
manner? Their entire lobby, both in the media and also in the society
is turning a Nelson’s eye to it under the garb of ‘freedom of
expression’ of the painter? Till this date, one has yet to see even an
isolated condemnation of Mr. Husain from any so called ‘liberal’!

Even when Husain was confronted with on numerous TV shows in the past,
before he fled to Europe in 2007, whether he will dare to depict any
female character of other religions (apart from Hindu) on the canvas,
he was virtually dumb founded and skipped the poser.

The secularist and those who are clamoring for Husain’s ‘freedom of
expression’ are conveniently forgetting that when a Danish cartoonist
had drawn a caricature of Prophet Mohammad, none of them had spoken of
freedom of expression of Copenhagen cartoonist ! In fact, none could
afford to say so, as Islam does not permit the depiction of Prophet
Mohammad by any manner and by any means and any attempt to draw his
picture or caricature is treated as a ‘blasphemy’!

If Islam prohibits the depiction of any caricature of Prophet
Mohammad, then the sentiments of Muslims on that score needs to be
respected all over the world. There can’t be any dispute or any debate
on that. One has to accept this reality, whether you like it or not.

In nutshell, if the sentiments of Muslim community can be hurt by a
Danish painter’s misadventure, then why not the Hindus have the same
right to vent their feelings or an outrage over MF Husain’s grossly
erroneous act?

One must appreciate that even after Husain’s mischievous act came to
the fore, Hindus did not vandalize any gallery or personal property of
Husain or there was not even a slightest thought (leave alone attempt)
to touch Husain’s person ! Also no one issued any award to those, who
can harm the painter. Therefore the tolerance level of Hindus needs to
be appreciated and all that which they did was to take a legal
recourse and knock the court doors and bring him to the book!

Why the pseudo secularist are having double standards in measuring an
outcry over the Danish cartoon and Hindu’s reaction over Husain’s
mischievous acts and deeds? It’s all hypocrisy!

The saddest truth is that Husain’s perversity while depicting the
Hindu goddess Saraswati and Bharatmata has indirectly got a universal
acclamation, under the garb of ‘freedom of expression’ and which is
blown up out of proportion by the section of the media, with scant
regard to the sentiments of Hindu community. Can the sentiments be the
monopoly of any single community?

Mr. Husain has been facing hundreds of criminal cases all over the
county under section 295 – A of Indian Penal Code (which is
cognizable, non bailable and having punishment of three years and it
is warrant triable before the Magistrate). It is pertinent to note
that practically all the magisterial courts in the country have ‘taken
cognizance’ of Husain’s ‘deliberate and malicious act’ of hurting the
sentiments of Hindu community.

Wherever the criminal cases were filed against him, neither any of
such Magisterial court has discharged him u/s. 239 of Criminal
Procedure Code. (no the sufficient evidence exists to proceed with the
trial) and no High Court in the country or even an Apex Court has
‘quashed’ the FIR filed against him or stayed any such trial faced by
Mr. Husain. This is sufficient to construe that there is a sufficient
material and a definite case to prosecute him.

The moot question now, is what would be fate of the criminal cases
which have been filed and pending against him all over the country?
Well, if one were to talk in legal parlance, should he remain absent
(which is bound to being away from India), first a bailable warrant,
then a non – bailable warrant and then a proclamation. This would be
sequence of things to happen in case of Mr. Husain who is barely five
years away from completing a century of his life.

Husain is so wise, that to save himself from prosecution back home in
India, he has taken a citizenship of such a country which is rather a
Kingdom in first place and where the ‘word’ democracy does not exist?
Also, India and Qatar have no extradition treaty! This is sufficient
to conclude that all the criminal cases pending against him would turn
out redundant in the matter of time and incumbent government would not
make any effort to bring him back to face the trials, even if they are
compounded and placed for the hearing in any single court.

All in all, the Husain saga has depicted the duplicity of pseudo
secularist in the country, who has different standards in measuring
the religious sentiment of the different communities at different
times.

Can there not be a single non – Hindu citizen in this gigantic country
called India having a population of 1.25 Bn, who can come forward and
strongly condemn Husain’s’ mischievous acts of denigrating Hindu
Goddess Saraswati and Bharatmata?

The truth is there is none. That’s the tragedy of Bhratmata!

Published in: Uncategorized on March 6, 2010 at 12:11 am

http://ganeshsovani.wordpress.com/2010/03/

India Can Make Progress if Run on Hinduism: Bhagwat
Bhopal | Feb 28, 2010 PRINT SHARE COMMENTS









Asserting that India would make progress only if run on the lines of
Hinduism, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said here today that those who were
Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an
Indian.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life,"
he said at the annual function of the local RSS and the Hindu Samagam
here.

He said that the Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech
quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context.

Bhagwat said that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and
not the present-day India.

The RSS Chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to
undermine India in a number of ways.

Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in
India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the
most powerful power in South Asia.

He said that as part of this efforts, China was playing an active role
in Nepal while at the same trying to cow down India.

Before Bhagwat's speech, a large number of Swayamsevaks gave a
demonstration of various physical exercises.

The RSS Chief said that the partition of the country in 1947 did not
lead to any good for anyone in the sub-continent.

Bhagwat said that till today Pakistan had not prospered as a nation
although it continued to be a headache for India at many times.

He said that Pakistan always used the Kashmir issue to create problems
with India and that the problem can be resolved only with the merger
of POK with India.

We were so meek that we went for talks with Pakistan although it used
the time taken by talks to prepare for more terrorist attacks, he
said.

The RSS Chief said the same thing applies to the manner in which the
Centre was getting ready to hold talks with Naxalites.

Filed At: Feb 28, 2010 22:25 IST , Edited At: Feb 28, 2010 22:25 IST
FILED IN: RSS , Mohan Bhagwat
© Copyright PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution
of any PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

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Comments

Mar 02, 2010 02:17 AM
5 "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said here today that those who were Indians
were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian."

This is a stupid definition.

"The RSS Chief said that the partition of the country in 1947 did not
lead to any good for anyone in the sub-continent"

If partition had not happened, there would be far fewer hindus in this
country. The dude has got everything wrong.

Like his predecessor, this guy is an idiot and shows it everytime he
opens his mouth.
Ganesan, Nj

Mar 02, 2010 02:10 AM
4 Swami Vivekanand defined Hinduism for the modern age. Now Mohan
Bhagwat and the RSS are trying to undefine it!
Anwaar, Dallas

Mar 01, 2010 12:44 PM
3 > "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said here today that those who were
Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an
Indian."

He also said that those who were Sanghis were delusuional and if one
was not delusional one could not be a Sanghi.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life."

Is it very hard to call our way of life "the Indian way of life", and
leave the word "Hindu" for matters of faith, worship, festivals, rites
etc. Why is the RSS so much against Hinduism?
Anwaar, Dallas

Mar 01, 2010 09:44 AM
2 --"Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs
in India"

And THIS is his only gripe with America ?!!
dev raya, Bangalore

Mar 01, 2010 09:39 AM
1 --"Mohan Bhagwat said here today that those who were Indians were
Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian."

What a supremely presumptuous little prick. Does he need to be
reminded that Hinduism itself is not Indian ? If he is not comfortable
with the Constitution he should find another country to emigrate to.
dev raya, Bangalore

http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?675519

Body in Nitin Gadkari's car: HC tells CID to investigate
Jaideep Hardikar / DNA
Saturday, March 6, 2010 0:37 IST

Mumbai: Dissatisfied with the police investigation into the death of
Yogita Thakare, the seven-year-old daughter of BJP president Nitin
Gadkari’s maid, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on
Friday handed over the case to the state CID.

Vimal Thakare, the girl’s mother, had filed a petition more than three
months ago seeking a CBI investigation. A bench of justice AP Lavande
and justice Pradeep Varale, however, directed the state CID to
investigate the matter.

Yogita’s body was found in the boot of Gadkari’s car parked at his
Nagpur home in May 2009. Gadkari, who was the BJP’s state chief then,
was not in the city when the body was found. Jayant Patil, the then
home minister, gave a statement in the legislative assembly that
Gadkari had nothing to do with the death.

The girl’s family, however, suspected foul play. Her mother moved the
high court alleging loopholes in the police investigations. She wanted
a CBI inquiry into her daughter’s death.

A guard informed Vimal Thakare about the incident after a local
doctor, called by Gadkari’s office employees, pronounced her dead. The
vehicle was parked just four metres away from the main gate where a
guard was on duty the day the body was found. He is one of the crucial
witnesses in the case.

“The court rejected a CBI inquiry, but gave it to the CID,” Dr Anjan
De, complainant’s lawyer, said. “We are still to get a detailed copy
of the verdict.”

Prosecution lawyer Nitin Sambre said the court found discrepancies on
two counts — the car’s make and the different perceptions of the cause
of her death. While the post-mortem report said Yogita died because of
suffocation, Dr Saira Merchant, the head of Indira Gandhi

Medical College’s paediatric department, said in her report that
Yogita could not have died of suffocation.

The high court bench pulled up the Nagpur Police over
loopholes in the investigations — from the spot inquest to the
interrogations of Gadkari’s employees.

Yogita, it came up during one of the hearings, was undergoing
treatment for sickle cell anaemia and congenital heart disease. The
prosecution maintained during the hearing that the girl’s death was
natural and there was no foul play.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_body-in-nitin-gadkari-s-car-hc-tells-cid-to-investigate_1355804

Bal Thackeray targets Maharashtra governor over `Mumbai for all'
remark
PTI
Saturday, March 6, 2010 11:16 IST

Mumbai: After batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and industrialist
Mukesh Ambani, Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan is the latest
to face the Shiv Sena ire for saying that Mumbai belongs to all.

"Saying that migrants will continue to come to Mumbai is akin to
betrayal of Maharashtra," Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in an
editorial in party newspaper Samana here today.

The governor had said yesterday that "anybody can live in Mumbai. Only
Mumbai can compete with itself. The rich, middle class and the poor co-
exist here".

In an informal interaction with media persons, his first since taking
over the gubernatorial post, he said though civic and infrastructure
facilities needed to be upgraded in the megapolis, migration from
other parts of the country cannot be curbed.

Terming governors who reside in the sprawling Raj Bhawan by the
Arabian Sea here as "Congress pensioners", Thackeray said, "Raj Bhawan
has lost touch with people's sentiments, thats why you say such
things."

"Had Sankaranarayanan been the governor of Karnataka, would he have
dared to say let hordes of migrants come to Bengaluru," Thackeray, who
has earlier targeted Tendulkar and Ambani over their `Mumbai belongs
to all' remarks, said.

"Mumbai has been made into a dharamshala. The only way to stop the
influx of migrants is to start a permit system to impose curbs on
those coming here," Thackeray said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_bal-thackeray-targets-maharashtra-governor-over-mumbai-for-all-remark_1355864

Why does Raj want Nitin Gadkari as CM?
Shubhangi Khapre / DNA
Thursday, May 7, 2009 2:39 IST

Mumbai: Less than a week after polling was held in the state for the
Lok Sabha elections, the process of churning in mainstream parties for
the state assembly polls in September has already begun.

Sensing that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has managed to
strike a positive chord with Marathi voters, whispers within the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to consider MNS chief Raj Thackeray as a
possible poll partner for the state elections are growing louder.

Raj has embarked on a mission to ensure that estranged cousin Uddhav
Thackeray does not become chief minister of Maharashtra. Raj has
declared state BJP president Nitin Gadkari as the most suitable
candidate for chief ministership of the state.

Whether by sheer coincidence or design, Sena chief Bal Thackeray has
already suggested that son Uddhav not throw his hat into the ring for
the CM's post. In his Saamna editorial, Thackeray wrote, "The
kingmaker should refrain from power and position." Uddhav, too, has
never made his ambition public. But his party has been projecting him
as the next CM if the Sena-BJP is voted to power this September.

A senior BJP general secretary said, "We will have to explore all
possible options, including the MNS, for the assembly polls. We cannot
depend on the Shiv Sena alone."

A Sena leader said, "We have to ascertain how serious the BJP-MNS
nexus is. Is the BJP using the Raj factor to put the Sena on the back
foot, and extract a hard bargain in the assembly?"

Everybody is waiting to see if Raj can get 6% votes of the total of
41% to get the Election Commission reckoning for the party symbol. A
possible NCP-Shiv Sena nexus for the assembly polls is also being
debated. The Congress has already complained against the NCP's attempt
to sabotage their 10 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, and pressure is
mounting within the Congress to sever ties with the NCP for the
assembly election.

Saffron poll managers admit that there is mistrust among the top Sena-
BJP leadership. The growing BJP-MNS bond will further complicate this
partnership.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_why-does-raj-want-nitin-gadkari-as-cm_1253615

Raj Thackeray favours Nitin Gadkari's formula on Babri Masjid
Kiran Tare / DNA
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 1:29 IST

Mumbai: While Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray disagreed with BJP
president Nitin Gadkari’s idea of rebuilding the Babri Masjid on an
open plot near the Ram temple in Ayodhya, his nephew and MNS president
Raj Thackeray has welcomed it cautiously.

Babri Masjid“Why was the BJP not this wise earlier?” Raj commented to
reporters at Chopda in Jalgaon district on Monday. “Had they taken the
same stand in the past, there would not have been riots all over the
country and innocent people would not have lost their lives. [But]
there is no point discussing the old matter and recalling old
memories.”

Raj was in Chopda in connection with a court case regarding violence
by MNS workers over the issue of migrants last year. He was granted
bail on a personal bond of Rs7,000.

Last week, Gadkari had mooted the idea of rebuilding the mosque,
demolished by a frenzied crowd of extremist Hindus on December 6,
1992, at the BJP’s national conclave in Indore.

“I appeal to the Muslims to cooperate in building a Ram temple at the
[disputed] site in Ayodhya,” Gadkari said. “I assure [them that] we
will help them build a mosque at a nearby open space.”

Thackeray had dubbed Gadkari’s idea an insult to the memory of the
karsevaks who were killed in Ayodhya during the Ram Janmabhoomi
movement. “Only a Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya,” he had said.
“There is no need to seek the permission of Muslims for that.”

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Babri Masjid Action Committee have
also opposed Gadkari’s idea.

Gadkari shares a good rapport with Raj. “In my opinion, Nitin Gadkari
is the right person for the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra,” Raj
had said before the October 2009 assembly elections in the state.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_raj-thackeray-favours-nitin-gadkari-s-formula-on-babri-masjid_1351396

Bal Thackeray slams Nitin Gadkari over Ayodhya
Surendra Gangan / DNA
Saturday, February 20, 2010 11:24 IST
Last updated: Sunday, February 21, 2010 0:31 IST

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has slammed ally Bhartiya Janata
Party and its chief Nitin Gadkari for the latter's appeal to the
Muslim community to co-operate in constructing the Ram Mandir and
agreeing to build a Masjid on the adjacent land at Ayodhya.

Bal Thackeray

Thackeray, in the edit in Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamana, has termed
the BJP proposal as an insult to the Kar Sevaks who 'fought' and lost
their lives for the Ram Mandir on the disputed land.

The edit says, "If the Muslims were to be persuaded to co-operate to
build the mandir by Hindus, why was the movement in Ayodhya launched
by the Hindus? If we had to surrender to the imam of the Jama Masjid
by falling on his feet for a piece of land for the mandir (instead of
fighting for it), we would have easily got the land for the mandir
then. The option was more convenient, but the Hindus chose to fight
for their right and hundreds had to sacrifice their lives.

The edit raised the question about the right of Babar over Ayodhya.
"Babar was invited by the Muslim emperor to support him in India. Ram
came to Ayodhya hundreds of years before Babar came here in 1528.Babar
was an aggressor and there is no reason why Muslims should fight for
the Masjid named after him against Hindus in their own country," it
stated further.

Thackeray also slammed prime minister Manmohan Singh for his statement
in the favour of Muslims. "The PM said that Muslims have the first
right over the resources of the country. 80 per cent Hindus tolerate
this meekly. Muslims have everything and Hindus don't even have their
Ram mandir. And now the BJP wants Hindus to plead to Muslims for the
temple," he said.

Political observers feel this as one more sign of increasing
differences between the parties. Thackeray criticized the BJP on
various issues including statehood to Vidarbha and alleged atrocities
on Marathi speaking people in BJP-lead Karnataka.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_bal-thackeray-slams-nitin-gadkari-over-ayodhya_1350218

LK Advani heaps praise on Nitin Gadkari's forthrightness
PTI
Monday, February 22, 2010 20:19 IST

New Delhi: Nitin Gadkari's forthrightness has been able to melt away
the despondency set in by two successive setbacks in the Lok Sabha
elections and turned the BJP upbeat at the just concluded Indore
conclave, senior leader LK Advani said today.

In his latest blog posting, Advani said that before the three-day
Indore conclave, the question bothering BJP delegates was whether
Gadkari will be able to inspire confidence in the party cadre,
"seemingly disheartened and disappointed by two successive setbacks in
the Lok Sabha elections of 2004 and 2009?"

Advani said he could see the "initial scepticism rapidly melting away"
and when the delegates left the venue, their doubts were replaced by
optimism and confidence.

As compared to previous such programmes attended by him (Advani),
"seldom before have I seen delegates so upbeat, and enthusiastic
participants in every single programme at the session as I have seen
this time," Advani, who was elected working chairman of NDA, said.

The BJP leader said the delegates had a strong feeling that the
"attributes of transparent frankness and forthrightness that they had
been able to discern in the new president were exactly what the party
needed at this point of time."

At the National Executive and Council, attended by nearly four
thousand delegates, Gadkari was able to interact with senior state BJP
representatives and BJP chief ministers at a single combined conclave
for the first time.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_lk-advani-heaps-praise-on-nitin-gadkari-s-forthrightness_1351271

Ex-devotee seeks to expose 'Krishna Leela'
D Ram Raj / DNA
Sunday, March 7, 2010 0:51 IST

Chennai: The Chennai police on Saturday booked a fresh case against
spiritual guru Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda on a complaint filed by
his former devotee Nithya Dharmananda alias K Lenin of Athur in Salem
district. The Chennai police also decided to transfer the case to
Karnataka, where Nithyananda (who has his spiritual headquarters at
Bidadi, about 30km from Bengaluru) reportedly “betrayed” the trust of
his devotees. Lenin accused Nithyananda of “misbehaving” with
“beautiful” women and “forcing” them into compromising positions with
him. Lenin also handed over a CD containing “raunchy bed room” scenes
of Nithayanda to the police commissioner of Chennai.

Lenin in his complaint stated that he was spiritually attracted
towards Nithyananda in 2004. In 2006 he shifted to the ashram in
Bangalore as a staunch devotee, he said. There he found Nithyananda
misbehaving with “innocent women” stating that he was incarnation of
Lord Krishna and beautiful women devotees were his gopis. He would try
to hug and molest them. Some disturbed women devotees stopped visiting
the ashram, while one woman also tried to commit suicide, Lenin
alleged. Lenin also claimed that he often found “actress Ranjitha” and
Nithyananda in compromising positions. Lenin claimed that he was very
upset as well as spiritually let down by his guru and hence decided to
secretly tape Nithyananda’s romp with Ranjitha in December 2009,
Chennai police commissioner T Rajendran told reporters on Saturday.

Lenin also alleged that Nithyananda had threatened to “kill” him on
February 18 and February 19 this year when he visited Salem for the
inauguration of his new ashram. Nithyananda suspected Lenin of
secretly taping his “bedroom scenes”, invited him into his van and
threatened to kill him. Lenin, however, escaped from the clutches of
Nithyananda by stating that he wanted to answer nature’s call. Lenin
asked the police to save the innocent “masses” from the clutches of
“Nithyananda”, who had blatantly betrayed their trust, according to
the complaint. “As all the incidents reportedly occurred in Karnataka,
we have decided to transfer the case to that state,” Rajendran stated.

“Tamil Nadu DG [director general Latika Saran] has already spoken to
her counter part in Karnataka and necessary action will be taken. We
are willing to fully co-operate with the Karnataka police during
investigations in the case,” he said. A case was also registered
against Nithyananda in Coimbatore. According to Coimbatore police
sources, they were trying to find out the exact whereabouts of
Ranjitha as they wanted to question her on her alleged “sexacapades”
with Nithyananda. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports stated that
Nithyananda could also have harboured links with the LTTE. “He may
have sheltered some LTTE leaders in his Bangalore ashram, but it needs
to be confirmed,” sources said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_ex-devotee-seeks-to-expose-krishna-leela_1356122

Communal ideologues forced MF Husain to leave India: Digvijay Singh
PTI
Saturday, March 6, 2010 15:54 IST

Indore: Terming as "very unfortunate" Qatar's conferring citizenship
on renowned Indian painter M F Husain, Congress leader Digvijay Singh
said here today that he (Husain) was forced to accept it due to
harassment from people having communal ideology.

MF Husain "Acceptance of Qatar's citizenship by famous artist like
Husain is very unfortunate. It is a big defeat of those people whose
ideology is liberal and who believe in communal harmony," Singh told
reporters here.

He said that due to constant attack from people with communal
ideology, Husain had to live a life of self-exile and finally he was
forced to accept Qatar's proposal to become its citizen.

However, the Congress general secretary refuted the charge that the
Indian government had failed to give adequate protection to Husain who
was facing attacks from saffron activists for making controversial
paintings of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

"There was no problem to the government from Husain but when the heart
of an artist breaks up, it takes long time to heal it," Singh said.

Amidst opposition attacks on the hike of petrol and diesel prices, he
said that there had been many fold increase in fuel prices during the
NDA regime.

"After presenting a comparative study of it, we will put this fact
before the people," the Congress general secretary said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_communal-ideologues-forced-mf-husain-to-leave-india-digvijay-singh_1355974

I've not abandoned India: MF Husain
PTI
Thursday, March 4, 2010 20:34 IST

Thiruvananthapruam: Renowned painter MF Husain today said he has not
abandoned India and accepted Qatari citizenship because of "some
technical reasons and artistic conveniences".

Talking to Malayalam channel Manorama News from Dubai, he said "I have
not abandoned India. Though I consider myself a world citizen, I am
accepting Qatari citizenship because of some technical reasons and
artistic conveniences."

Husain, who could not come to Kerala to receive the state government's
Raja Ravi Varma Award conferred on him two years ago, said it was for
the state government to remove
legal obstacles in his way.

"If the Kerala government is serious about Raja Ravi Varma Award, it
should try to remove the legal obstacles," Husain said when asked
whether it was not time for him to come to Kerala to receive it.

Husain was chosen for Kerala's highest honour for artistic excellence,
instituted in memory of the renowned Indian painter Varma, in 2008.
But the government has not been able to present it to him since he has
been living abroad.

When the artist's comments on the award were brought to his notice,
Kerala culture minister MA Baby told PTI that the state government
would explore the possibility of presenting the award to him.

He, however, said efforts by the Kerala government alone was not
enough to remove the legal obstacles. The Centre should take steps to
clear legal hurdles before the artist to enable him come to India, he
said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_i-ve-not-abandoned-india-mf-husain_1355285

It's all over, confirms MF Husain
ND Prashant / DNA
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 1:24 IST

Doha: The enormity of the loss may take some time to sink in, but it’s
now clear that MF Husain will no more remain Indian. “It’s all over.
I’ve just completed the final formalities,” said the artist to an
anguished Indian fan at the immigration department in Qatar’s capital,
Doha.

As the barefooted Husain sat with his paintbrush-shaped walking stick
among the crowd looking at the ticking counter numbers, the sense of
resignation in the 95-year-old was hard to miss.
“Could an apology have helped sort out things?” he was asked.

“How long can I wait? It’s been 12 years, and even the Supreme Court
has given the judgment,’’ he answered. But he clarified that the India
connection was too strong to be over. “My artwork is still based on
India and it flows through me and I shall still continue to work on
it,” he said.

Husain was forced into exile in 2006 after some fundamentalist outfits
launched a virulent attack on him for his portrayal of Hindu deities
in the nude. His paintings were vandalised and, worse, nearly 900
cases were filed against him. With no sincere help coming from the
government to protect him, he left for Dubai.

As his number approached, Husain, dragging his weary legs, moved from
the second row to the first. He then pulled out a small book from his
pocket and started reading it. It was the Quran. He was probably
praying for last-minute divine intervention.
An aide then walked up to him with some documents and once the maestro
signed them, it was all over.

As he dragged himself out of he office to a waiting car, the fan could
not help mutter, “Sir, we love you.”

“I know son, there are a lot of people out there who love me, but…,”
Husain said and moved into the car.

The fan sighed. The next artwork the painter does will not be from the
‘Picasso of India’.

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_it-s-all-over-confirms-mf-husain_1354100

Will MF Husain's humiliation hurt our image internationally?
DNA
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 1:59 IST

Mumbai: Government should have stood by him

Till date the government has not taken a stand on this issue at all.
This shows that the government doesn’t bother about the great artist
or perhaps they are afraid of some reaction from fundamentalists. In
the future, if some organisation honours him, then we will be the
first to ‘reclaim’ him. The Indian government is surely responsible
for hounding away Husain.
Kunal Sejpal

Let him be at peace wherever he is

Many are of the opinion that we should make an exception and grant
Husain dual citizenship, but this will lead to more controversy. He
has taken a decision so we should let him stay peacefully wherever he
feels at ease. But this will encourage extremists to continue
targeting people and have their say. His paintings offended people and
he should have been more responsible.
Yesha B

Don’t let forces of intolerance prevail

It is sad that Husain, a prolific painter, chose to give up his Indian
nationality. Another writer Taslima Nasreen also couldn’t get Indian
citizenship following her struggle with a small group of hardliners.
Both are victims of fundamentalists. A celebrity of international fame
being denied Indian citizenship and another harassed at the time of
extending her visa, speaks volumes of the hollowness of the
government’s secularism.

Sayyad Naqvi

Not right to treat a great artist shabbily

What’s the point discussing it now, when MF Husain has already
accepted citizenship of Qatar and decided to move on? It’s a great
loss to India, but for how long can one expect a 95-year-old to wait
for decent treatment from his home country? I don’t think there is any
space for freedom of speech for artists or even filmmakers these
days.
Mitesh Bora

His choice of country is surprising

It’s sad that the Picasso of India has been meted such treatment.
However now that he has taken a decision his well wishers seem to have
been roused from their reverie. Such an incident will tarnish India’s
image and prove that we are intolerant. Also surprising is that Husain
has taken citizenship of a country like Qatar which doesn’t offer much
freedom of expression.
Amita Mehta

http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/report_will-mf-husain-s-humiliation-hurt-our-image-internationally_1354541

Sangh ideologue slams MF Husain
PTI
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 19:31 IST

Thiruvananthapruam: Painter MF Husain, who has accepted Qatari
nationality, has come under attack from a leading Hindutva ideologue
who accused him of "maligning" India's image before the world by
creating an impression that it is a nation of fundamentalists.

"He is deliberately trying to create an impression that Islamic
countries have more freedom than India," said P Parameswaran, director
of Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram here.

On Husain's claim that he enjoyed more freedom in Qatar, he sought to
know if he would be "bold enough" to exercise his artistic freedom and
paint Islamic symbols.

"What kind of artistic freedom is he talking about? Is painting Hindu
gods and goddesses and even Bharat mata in bad light the ultimate test
of artistic freedom? Has freedom no restriction or limit,"
Parameswaran told PTI.

"If Danish newspapers can apologise for carrying cartoon of Prophet
Muhammad, why can't Husain apologise for hurting the sentiments of
people of the country? Husain had actually got what 'he deserved and
probably what he desired'," he said.

On how he saw erotic murals and sculptures in Hindu temples, he said
great Indians like Swami Vivekananda had openly condemned and
described such paintings as "degenerate and grotesque caricatures" and
not true Indian art.

"Nobody now admires them. No artists reproduce such paintings except
Husain. Great Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma produced hundreds of
portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses and won worldwide acclaim," he
said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_sangh-ideologue-slams-mf-husain_1354867

Security will be provided to MF Husain: Government
PTI
Thursday, February 25, 2010 19:55 IST

New Delhi: Describing self-exiled eminent artist MF Husain as the
"pride of India", the government today said it is willing to provide
security to him and that no case is pending against him in any of the
courts in the country.

Responding to questions from the media on Husain being conferred
honorary citizenship by Qatar, Union home secretary GK Pillai said,
"there is no case against MF Husain. Supreme Court has quashed all the
cases against him."

The home secretary went on to say that the Government was ready to
provide security to the 95-year-old artist, if he planned to return to
India.

"He (Husain) is the pride of India," foreign secretary Nirupama Rao
said adding, "I would like him to feel safe and secure in India".

Husain has been living abroad for nearly four years following a spate
of legal cases in the country over his controversial paintings of
Hindu goddesses and a hate campaign against him.

Several cases were filed against him by people protesting his
portrayal of Hindu goddesses in the nude. His house in India was
attacked and art works vandalised by fundamentalists.

The Union Government had approached the apex court for the expeditious
disposal of cases across the country over his controversial paintings
so that his early return could be ensured.

The Delhi high court in May 2009 had quashed criminal proceedings
against the painter, saying his paintings were an expression of
creativity.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_security-will-be-provided-to-mf-husain-government_1352590

MF Husain misses India, despite Qatari nationality: Gurudas Shenoy
Monica Jha
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 10:57 IST

Artist Gurudas Shenoy has known MF Husain for a long time. The two
have in fact watched Hum Aapke Hain Kaun 44 times in the city. He
tells DNA that Husain’s decision to accept Qatari nationality was not
a betrayal of India, and that the painter immensely loves the country,
its culture and traditions.

How have you and the city of Bangalore been associated with Husain?
I know him and understand him well. I stay with him when I go to Dubai
or London. He usually stays with us when he comes to Bangalore. He was
a great friend of my father, artist GS Shenoy. He used to say that
Ramakrishna Hegde and my father were the two people responsible for
his association with Karnataka. He is sponsoring and also writing for
a coffee table book about my father.

We, at our studio, had many of his works, which have been shifted to
various places after the studio closed down two years back. He loved
dosa, sambar, rasam and karela chips at our house. He also loved to
eat dosa at Airlines Hotel and follow it up with a Rajkumar film. He
loved walking around the city. We have together watched Hum Aapke Hain
Kaun 44 times in Bangalore.

Is Husain’s adoption of Qatari nationality a loss to India?
An artist lives in his works. Husain is wherever his works are. He
cannot be limited to one country. But, it (his decision) is sad for
the country. I wish people had realised what his presence meant. But,
he is Husain. He is unpredictable. He cannot stay at a place for more
than six days.

Many say Husain showed a lack of faith in India and betrayed India.
People go to the US for jobs and take up American nationality. Do we
call it betrayal? An Indian scientist goes to another country, wins a
Nobel Prize. We still call him an Indian.

How can one term Husain’s decision to adopt Qatari nationality a
betrayal?
Whatever was said about the efforts being made to bring him back
seemed just superficial talk. Was there any concrete effort made? No.
But he has nothing against anybody. He says all Indians are his
countrymen and that he loves them.
His heart is here. He is missing India, Indian cinema theatres and all
the action here. He loves India, its culture and traditions. Husain
is, in fact, currently working on a series of paintings based on
India.

Will Qatar be more tolerant to Husain’s ideas and works than India?
You must see what is happening in Qatar now. They are spending
millions of dollars to set up art museums.

What is Husain doing right now?
He is 95 and is working tirelessly. Husain is working on a series of
100 paintings on Arab civilisation since the time of the Babylonians.

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/interview_mf-husain-misses-india-despite-qatari-nationality-gurudas-shenoy_1354594

BJP: No objection to Qatar citizenship for MF Husain
PTI
Thursday, February 25, 2010 20:56 IST

New Delhi: The BJP today said it had no issues with controversial
painter MF Husain being offered citizenship by Qatar, adding everybody
had a right to reside anywhere in the world but when it came to
creative pursuits one should not hurt sentiments of others.

"On this earth, every person has the right to live anywhere. So, we
don't want to blame Husain if he accepts this offer of citizenship
made by Qatar," deputy leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia
said.

Husain has been living in Dubai and London for the past few years
since he had to flee from India when he faced opposition from some
sections for his controversial paintings depicting Hindu Goddesses in
the nude.

Ahluwalia said the main issue was why Husain could not live in India.

"Every painter, writer, journalist and those involved in other
creative pursuits should keep in mind that while they are engaged in
painting or writing... they should not do anything which hurts or
harms the sentiments of others," he said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bjp-no-objection-to-qatar-citizenship-for-mf-husain_1352618

CPI (M) MP pleads for bringing back MF Husain
PTI
Thursday, March 4, 2010 13:33 IST

New Delhi: A strong plea for bringing back renowned artist MF Husain,
who has become a citizen of Qatar after living in self-imposed exile,
was made by a CPI(M) member in the Lok Sabha today.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Ramachandra Dome said Husain has
been an artist of international repute and it was sad and "shameful
for the country" that at an old age, he had to stay abroad. He sought
to know the government's stand on the matter and whether it has taken
any decision to bring Husain back.

There was no response from the Government. Ninety-five-year-old Husain
has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai for the last five years
following threats from some fundamentalists. Recently he was offered
citizenship of Qatar which he has accepted.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_cpi-m-mp-pleads-for-bringing-back-mf-husain_1355102

India is my soul, but it has rejected me: MF Husain
PTI
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 14:38 IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Renowned painter M F Husain, who has accepted
Qatar nationality, feels that the attack against him by right wing
outfits in India that forced him into exile for 12 years was targeted
at art and
self-expression rather than his Muslim identity.

"I have not intended to denigrate or hurt the beliefs of anyone
through my art. I only give expression to the instincts from my soul,"
the 95 year-old painter said in an interview to Malayalam daily
'Madhyamam' from Qatar capital Doha.

Husain said it was with "deep pain" in his heart that he was giving up
Indian citizenship. "India is my soul. But the country has rejected
me," he said.

"India is my motherland and I can never hate the country. But the
political leadership, artists and intellectuals kept silent when Sangh
Parivar forces attacked me. How can I live there in such a situation?"
he asked.

Husain said he knew that 90% of Indians loved him and a small
minority, including a handful of politicians were the only people who
were opposed to him.

"I am happy that there are people in all parts of the world who love
me," he said.

He said successive governments in India had failed to ensure
protection to him during repeated threats from right wing extremists.

"For politicians, only votes are important. No government had called
me back to India till now. They are inviting me when another country
offered me citizenship. How can I trust the political leadership now,"
Husain said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_india-is-my-soul-i-still-love-the-country-mf-husain_1354695

SC gives relief to MF Husain
Rakesh Bhatnagar
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 23:24 IST

New Delhi: MF Hussain won't have to appear before a court in Bhopal
that has summoned him on July 27 to face criminal proceedings started
by a man whose religious sentiments were hurt by Hussain's painting
Bharat Mata.

The SC on Tuesday afternoon stayed the Bhopal court's order on a
complaint accusing the 90-year-old artist of having outraged religious
sentiments of the people with his controversial paintings. Judges also
restrained the trial court from conducting further proceedings.

The Bench also ordered that Hussain's petition for transfer of his
case from Bhopal to Delhi be clubbed with other such petitions filed
by him which were already pending before the apex court.

Meanwhile, a Meerut court on Tuesday directed the police to register a
case against the artist for allegedly making objectionable paintings
of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashok Pathak passed the order on
a complainant's grievance, which held that Hussain's painting on the
website had "hurt" his religious feelings.

On May 12, the apex court had stayed the execution of a bailable
warrant issued by a Pandharpur court in Maharashtra against Hussain.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_sc-gives-relief-to-mf-husain_1043779

Media Syndicate
Essential News for educative purposes - A program of 'Education
Informal'

Thursday, March 4, 2010
The convoluted logic of RSS exposed once again ....

In a recent press gathering, the chief of RSS, Mr. Mohan Bhagwat has
said:

1. “He who is an Indian is a Hindu and he who is not a Hindu is not an
Indian.”

2. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said that those who were Indians
were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

3. "For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of
life,"

We need to look at it a little closely to find out what MB must have
meant by this. Some of my friends tell me that this has always been
the stance of the RSS.

There are some very interesting consequences arising out of this.
Firstly, since MB(RSS) has not defined what a Hindu is, and what an
Indian is, this statement is like "Something that we do not know" is
same as "Something that we do not know". Fair enough. MB and RSS have
enough space for maneuver.

Therefore we have some interesting questions for the RSS. What is the
way of life that is called by the name Hinduism? And who is an Indian?
Let us try and analyze what these terms can not mean.

Let us call the present geopolitical entity India as India-GP.
Similarly let us call the so called geographical Akhand-Bharat of the
RSS India-AB. The passport holders of India-GP as Indian(s)-GP. Let us
call those who live south-east of the Hindukush valley and in the
peninsular region as Hindu-GP. If we add the Tibetan region to this
Hindu-GP, we term it as Hindu-AB. Let us call the yet to be defined
"way of life" WOL, and those who are Hindus by this way of life Hindu-
WOL.

There are two interesting observations to be made here. India-GP,
India-AB, Hindu-GP, Hindu-AB are geographic regions. Hindu-WOL is not
a geographic definition.

MB's statement consists of two parts besides mentioning that by the
term Hindu, MB meant Hindu-WOL.

a. Every Indian is a Hindu,

and

b. A person who is not a Hindu can not be an Indian.

We have following questions:

0. How do we determine who is a Hindu-WOL?

1. Are there Hindu-WOL residing outside India-GP? If yes, then in what
sense does MB mean that they are Indians? Does RSS advocate issuing
Indian-GP passport to them?

2. Are there people who are not Hindu-WOL within India-GP? If yes,
what does RSS recommend towards non-Hindu-WOL living in India-GP? For
example, are they to be thrown out of the India-GP?

3. What is the attitude of the RSS towards the government representing
the India-GP state?

There is one easy path that RSS can take. They can define that a Hindu-
WOL respects all religions. This leads to a funny situation that a
Hindu-WOL need not respect Hinduism-WOL, and yet can be a Hindu-WOL .
The compulsion to respect Hinduism-WOL is absent because Hinduism-WOL
is not a religion!

Another question is: Does a Hindu-WOL have to respect those religions
who are bloodthirsty against them, for example those who have vowed to
destroy Hindu-WOL?

Mr. MB, now the time is here to stand up and be counted. Your
convoluted language will not work. The least you can do to allay these
misgivings is to make your notions of Hindu and Indian very very
clear, preferably giving examples. Hiding behind the veil of secrecy
and ambiguity will be counterproductive.

Posted by samAlochaka

2 comments:

P Kalyan said...
This is a great article. On the day RSS defines "Hindu" clearly, it
will be dead!

March 4, 2010 9:01 AM

samAlochaka said...
PK, why do you say so? Is it not possible that RSS will get some new
supporters?

March 4, 2010 11:15 AM

http://medsyn.blogspot.com/2010/03/convoluted-logic-of-rss-exposed-once.html

Media Syndicate
Essential News for educative purposes - A program of 'Education
Informal'

Friday, March 5, 2010
At the very least, Muslims need to be educated by Mr. Anees Jillani

Mr. Anees Jillani, a regular contributor to Indian Express has
recently written an article.

Let Shahmira Oad’s body rest in peace:

The universe has existed for more than four billion years, and it may
last several more billion years. And maybe even for infinity. The
scale is beyond our comprehension, and the least we all can realise is
the fact that all religions are recent occurrences when placed on this
mammoth time scale of four billion years.

Discrimination on the basis of religion thus makes no sense, but it
seems that some who have appropriated the role of mediators between
ourselves and a higher truth are determined to prove that some people,
on the basis of their religious affiliation, are more equal than
others, even to the point of not allowing the dead to rest in peace.

Sheeraz Qureshi, a maulvi claiming to hold a master’s degree in
Physics, is leading a crusade in a village in Sindh, in Pakistan, to
remove the body of a Hindu girl from a Muslim graveyard. Seventeen-
year old Shahmira Oad, the daughter of Bachayo Oad, a resident of
Hala, died on April 28, 2009, and was buried at the Khudabad
graveyard, three kilometres southwest of New Hala town.

Shahmira Oad’s relatives buried her there only after receiving
permission from the locals, including the caretaker of the graveyard.
But Sheeraz Qureshi and other religious elements are quoting fatwas
pronounced by some traditional religious leaders that only Muslims are
allowed to bury their loved ones in Muslim graveyards.

All religions are supposed to be in conformity with the basic human
values. It is doubtful if any religion calls for exhuming the body of
a poor 17-year-old Hindu girl from a Muslim graveyard because her body
is ‘defiling’ the graveyard. If anything, the removal of the body is
likely to desecrate it and such an act would defile everybody buried
there.

Shahmira’s family and the Hindu community in the area, which is not
surprisingly poor, has been getting threats about her body. The local
notables, instead of telling off the cleric not to rake up such a
mindless issue, are pressuring the poor family to remove the body.

Shahmira’s grave is not even located anywhere close to the other
graves in the graveyard, not that it would have made any difference.
It is about five metres away from other graves. Despite this, in order
to save her body from defilement and avoid a clash in the community,
her family has expressed willingness to build a boundary wall around
her grave.

The issue is fast threatening to turn into communal imbroglio and a
suit has been filed in the court of a civil judge for removal of the
grave. The judge is under immense local pressure. The opponents are
saying that they “will not keep silent until the bones of the strange
girl are thrown out of the graveyard”.

There are some sane voices in the community opposing the exhumation of
the body on the grounds that several graveyards in the Sindh province
are common burial grounds for both Hindus and Muslims. For instance,
the graveyards alongside the famous shrines of great Sufi saints, like
Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Sachchal Sarmast, Sufi Shah Inayat Shaheed,
and other spiritual leaders, are open for burial regardless of
religion.

It is said that Islam is the most tolerant religion. But if this is
how we behave then what would distinguish us from the upper caste
Hindus in Indian villages who refuse to permit people of lower castes
to use the same well to draw water? Ganga is a holy river for all the
Hindus; should the Hindus then forbid persons belonging to all other
denominations from using its water?

We all feel the pinch when something happens to a Muslim and an
Islamic symbol, like the mosque but we have no qualms about the
religious feelings of others. Almost every Muslim in the world was
saddened by the destruction of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. But we
don’t even think for a second about the conversion of innumerable
Hindu and Sikh temples in the whole of Pakistan to schools, police
stations, offices and sometimes even for keeping cattle. We cannot
imagine such a thing happening to a mosque but have no objection to
treating the religious places of others with utter contempt.

We all resent the recent ban on minarets in Switzerland; many of the
Swiss and Europeans themselves are saddened by this development. But
have we ever thought about the complete ban on construction of
churches and temples in the whole of Saudi Arabia and in most of the
Gulf countries? Non-Muslims are not even permitted to enter the cities
of Mecca and Medina and we consider it our human right to even get
elected to the parliaments of the so-called Christian countries, and
acquire as much property as we can.

When will we in Pakistan learn to remember the basic truth that
whatever we give to others, good or bad, it comes back, many times?
Shouldn’t then we give more and more of what we want for ourselves to
others so that the same will come back to us in greater quantities? We
need to overcome our historical inability to follow the ethic of
reciprocity, and to understand that it applies to all humans, and not
merely to Muslims. Only when this is accomplished will religiously-
related oppression, and mass murder cease. We all can make a beginning
in this respect by letting Shahmira Oad rest in peace at her last
resting place forever with Muslims as her neighbours.

(The author is a prominent Pakistan Supreme Court lawyer. E-mail:
***@Jillani.org)

A relatively decent piece of writing, given that it is coming from
some muslim author in Pakistan. He has brought out certain very
disturbing facts to the fore and he must be commended for the same.
Some of these important facts about Pakistan, Islam and Muslims have
been laid bare:

Disdain for non-Islamic religions:

1. But we don’t even think for a second about the conversion of
innumerable Hindu and Sikh temples in the whole of Pakistan to
schools, police stations, offices and sometimes even for keeping
cattle. We cannot imagine such a thing happening to a mosque but have
no objection to treating the religious places of others with utter
contempt.

Further disdain for non-Muslims:

2. But have we ever thought about the complete ban on construction of
churches and temples in the whole of Saudi Arabia and in most of the
Gulf countries? Non-Muslims are not even permitted to enter the cities
of Mecca and Medina and we consider it our human right to even get
elected to the parliaments of the so-called Christian countries, and
acquire as much property as we can.

The game so far of Pakistan:

3. When will we in Pakistan learn to remember the basic truth that
whatever we give to others, good or bad, it comes back, many times?

Historical inabilities of Islam and Muslims:

4. We need to overcome our historical inability to follow the ethic of
reciprocity, and to understand that it applies to all humans, and not
merely to Muslims.

Of course there are certain truths which have been indicated
obliquely, here we state them forthrightly.

Mr Jillani wrote:

1. All religions are supposed to be in conformity with the basic human
values.

Yes, all or most religions, except Islam, which is erroneously thought
of as a religion. Towards a non-muslim or an apostate, Islam is in
conformity with the utmost inhuman values.

2. It is said that Islam is the most tolerant religion.

It is erroneously said so. It is the most intolerant of all
ideologies.

3. But if this is how we behave then what would distinguish us from
the upper caste Hindus in Indian villages who refuse to permit people
of lower castes to use the same well to draw water?

Upper caste Hindus refused only during some period. It is to be
remembered that the lower caste people, even then, had their own
wells. This is unlike Islam and Muslims, where non-Muslims can not
have their shrines.

It is important for those who are saner amongst the muslims to realize
many of the facts which have been pointed out here.

However, more importantly, we, as non-muslims, should not be lulled in
to benign optimism or complacence. We must always remember that Islam
can not be reformed.

Once those who are sane amongst the muslims, see these two facts in
conjunction, that Islam is evil, and that Islam can not be reformed,
they will realize that the only course left for the saner amongst
muslims is to leave Islam.

Posted by samAlochaka

http://medsyn.blogspot.com/2010/03/at-very-least-muslims-need-to-be.html

Media Syndicate
Essential News for educative purposes - A program of 'Education
Informal'

Thursday, March 4, 2010
The question of who an artist is .. revisited

Before her retirement from Stella Maris College, Dr.Hilda Raja used to
write columns regularly in The Hindu. It is conjectured that even
after retirement, she used to write once in a while. Though she has
sent the following letter to Ram in personal capacity, she sent copies
to some of her friends.

For those who may not know, Mr. N Ram is the chief editor of the
famous news paper The Hindu.

The following is the text of her letter.

Dear Ram,

I have taken time to write this to you Ram-for the simple reason that
we have known you for so many years- you and The Hindu bring back
happy memories Please take what I am putting down as those that come
from an agonized soul. You know that I do not mince words and what I
have to say I will-I call a spade a spade-now it is too late for me to
learn the tricks of being called a ‘secularist’ if that means a bias
for, one, and a bias against, another.

Hussain is now a citizen of Qatar-this has generated enough of heat
and less of light. Qatar you know better than me is not a country
which respects democracy or freedom of expression. Hussain says he has
complete freedom-I challenge him to paint a picture of Mohammed fully
clad.

There is no second opinion that artists have the Right of Freedom of
expression. Is such a right restricted only to Hussain? Will that
right not flow to Dan Brown-why was his film-Da Vinci Code not
screened? Why was Satanic Verses banned-does Salman Rushdie not have
that freedom of expression? Similarly why is Taslima hunted and
hounded and why fatwas have been issued on both these writers? Why has
Qatar not offered citizenship to Taslima? In the present rioting in
Shimoga in Karnataka against the article Taslima wrote against the
tradition of burqua which appeared in the Out Look in Jan 2007. No
body protested then either in Delhi or in any other part of the
country; now when it reappears in a Karnataka paper there is rioting.
Is there a political agenda to create a problem in Karnataka by the
intolerant goons? Why has the media not condemned this insensitivity
and intolerance of the Muslims against Taslima’s views? When it comes
to the Sangh Parivar it is quick to call them goons and intolerant
etc. Now who are the goons and where is this tolerance and
sensitivity?

Regarding Hussain’s artistic freedom it seems to run unfettered in an
expression of sexual perversion only when he envisages the Hindu Gods
and Goddesses. There is no quarrel had he painted a nude woman sitting
on the tail of a monkey. The point is he captioned it as Sita. Nobody
would have protested against the sexual perversion and his
orientatation to sexual signs and symbols. But would he dare to
caption it as ‘Fatima enjoying in Jannat with animals’?

Next example-is the painting of Saraswati copulating with a lion. Here
again his perversion is evident and so is his intent. Even that lets
concede cannot be faulted-each one’s sexual orientation is each one’s
business I suppose. But he captioned it as Saraswati. This is the
problem. It is Hussain’s business to enjoy in painting his sexual
perversion. But why use Saraswati and Sita for his perverted
expressions? Use Fatima and watch the consequence. Let the media
people come to his rescue then. Now that he is in a country that gives
him complete freedom let him go ahead and paint Fatima copulating with
a lion or any other animal of his choice. And then turn around and
prove to India-the Freedom of expression he enjoys in Qatar.

Talking about Freedom of Expression-this is the Hussain who supported
Emergency-painted Indira Gandhi as Durga slaying Jayaprakas Narayan.
He supported the jailing of artists and writers. Where did this
Freedom of Expression go? And you call him secularist? Would you
support the jailing of artists and writers Ram –would you support the
abeyance of the Constitution and all that we held sacred in democracy
and the excessiveness of Indira Gandhi to gag the media- writers-
political opponents? Tell me honesty why does Hussain expect this
Freedom when he himself did not support others with the same freedom
he wants? And the media has rushed to his rescue. Had it been a Ram
who painted such obnoxious, .degrading painting-the reactions of the
media and the elite ‘secularists’ would have been different; because
there is a different perception/and index of secularism when it comes
to Ram-and a different perception/and index of secularism when it
comes to Rahim/Hussain.

It brings back to my mind an episode that happened to The Hindu some
years ago.[1991]. You had a separate weekly page for children with
cartoons, quizzes, and with poems and articles of school children. In
one such weekly page The Hindu printed a venerable bearded man-fully
robed with head dress, mouthing some passages of the Koran-trying to
teach children .It was done not only in good faith but as a part of
inculcating values to children from the Koran. All hell broke loose.
Your office witnessed goons who rushed in-demanded an apology-held out
threats. In Ambur,Vaniambadi and Vellore the papers stands were burned-
the copies of The Hindu were consigned to the fire. A threat to raise
the issue in Parliament through a Private Members Bill was held out-
Hectic activities went on-I am not sure of the nature and the
machinations behind the scene. But The Hindu next day brought out a
public apology in its front page. Where were you Ram? How secular and
tolerant were the Muslims?

Well this is of the past-today it is worse because the communal
temperature in this country is at a all high-even a small friction can
ignite and demolition the country’s peace and harmony. It is against
this background that one should view Hussain who is bent on abusing
and insulting the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Respect for religious
sentiments, need to maintain peace and harmony should also be part of
the agenda of an artist-if he is great. If it is absent then he cannot
say that he respects India and express his longing for India.

Let’s face it-he is a fugitive of law. Age and religion are
immaterial. What does the media want-that he be absolved by the
courts? Even for that he has to appear in the courts-he cannot run
away-After all this is the country where he lived and gave expression
to his pervert sadist, erotic artistic mind under Freedom of
Expression. I simply cannot jump into the bandwagon of the elite
‘secularist’ and uphold what he had done. With his brush he had
committed jihad-bloodletting.

The issue is just not nudity-Yes the temples-the frescos in Konarak
and Kajhuraho have nude figures-But does it say that they are Sita,
Sarswati or any goddesses? We have the Yoni and the Phallus as sacred
signs of Life-of Siva and Shakthi-take these icons to the streets,
paint them -give it a caption it become vulgar. Times have changed.
Even granted that our ancients sculptured and painted naked forms and
figures, with a pervert mind to demean religion is no license to
repeat that in today’s changed political and social scenario and is
not a sign of secularism and tolerance. I repeat there is no quarrel
with nudity-painters have time and again found in it the perfection of
God’s hand craft.

Let me wish Hussain peace in Qatar-the totalitarian regime with zero
tolerance May be he will convince the regime there to permit freedom
of expression in word, writing and painting. For this he could start
experimenting painting forms and figure of Mohamed the Prophet-and his
family And may I fervently wish that the media-especially The Hindu
does not discriminate goons-let it not substitute tolerance for
intolerance when it comes to Rahim and Antony and another index for
Ram.

I hope you will read this in the same spirit that I have written. All
the best to you Ram.

Dr Mrs Hilda Raja,
Vadodara

Let us congratulate Mrs. Raja for making a point so well. It is a lady
once again who has to come to the fore. It was Ms. Shobha De who had
exhibited great courage (I guess Ms. Simi Grewal too), though both of
them later chickened out, as they were being hounded out. It is a pity
that there was no man who supported them.

Coming back to this letter, it reads nice. However, being a very
cultured and a sensitive lady, Mrs. Raja has still minced words. She
has, in a very friendly note, merely pleaded with Mr. Ram to exhibit
reasonable fairness.

In my opinion, Mr. N. Ram, the chief editor of The Hindu is not just a
DF, he is a coward, national-cultural suicide inciting DF. Hypocrisy
is his art.

I also disagree with Mrs. Raja on her recommended constraint of
artistic freedom. I would rather request to articulate a principled
stand on the freedom of expression, which does not thwart truth.
Having been a contributor to the MSM (Main Stream Media), she must
surely be capable to doing this.

I also do not wish Hussain any peace in Qatar. May he be cut to
pieces! May not even these pieces not rest in peace!!

Posted by samAlochaka

1 comments:

Anonymous said...
It would be far better if people like Mrs. Raja would educate new and
budding writers about the prevailing hypocrisy in the media.

The Hindu has been secular for a far longer period, and it is strange
that Mrs. Raja is noticing it so late.

This is so typical of a hindu mindset. Being an activist upholding
idealism, making unlimited compromises, and then finally having seen
the dim light, exhibiting shock, amazement, and anger.

Every time there is a terror-attack, the political leaders shed
crocodile tears using the same technique.

What is far more important to decide what the future course of action
should be

It would be very kind of Mrs. Raja to express her forthright views on
this aspect.

March 5, 2010 4:17 AM

http://medsyn.blogspot.com/2010/03/question-of-who-artist-is-revisited.html

Media Syndicate
Essential News for educative purposes - A program of 'Education
Informal'

Friday, March 5, 2010
Bhyrappa echoes Mrs. Raja's thoughts in his comments on Hussein
Episode

Noted Kannada writer Mr. SL Bhyrappa has said that:

A section of the media had been commenting that the “banishment” of
the renowned artist M.F. Husain was a “national shame”. But how many
of Mr. Husain's paintings had reflected his views on the religion he
belonged to had remained to be clarified, he said.

Now this man is talking sense. Please recall that Mrs. Hilda Raja
expressed similar emotions when she wrote:

Nobody would have protested against the sexual perversion and his
orientatation to sexual signs and symbols. But would he dare to
caption it as ‘Fatima enjoying in Jannat with animals’?

and

Now that he is in a country that gives him complete freedom let him go
ahead and paint Fatima copulating with a lion or any other animal of
his choice. And then turn around and prove to India-the Freedom of
expression he enjoys in Qatar.

Now here is man who has echoed what a lady has said with due rational
consideration. Of course both of them arrived at their conclusions
independently.

Let us wish there are more and more of them saying more and more of
the same and sane things.

Posted by samAlochaka

http://medsyn.blogspot.com/2010/03/bhyrappa-echoes-mrs-rajas-thoughts-in.html

Media Syndicate
Essential News for educative purposes - A program of 'Education
Informal'

Monday, March 1, 2010
Who among these two are artists? MF Hussein or Tasleema Nasreen, or
both?

Ms. Taslima Nasreen is known to be an ardent critic of certain
practices in Islam. A Kannada translation of her article has sparked
violence leaving two persons dead and many injured. The news is here.

Now the question is, if MFH can paint whatever he wants to paint, why
can't Taslima write whatever she wants to write? And where is the Main
Stream Media, Ms. Sharmila Pataudi, The Artists of India, The
Government of India? Why aren't they expressing outrage and anger? All
of these are conspicuously absent, though their silence is eloquent.
Of course it was only yesterday that this happened. But I bet that the
whole of this bunch will remain silent.

I am anxiously waiting for the reaction of the BJP, and the RSS on
this. I surmise that the BJP and the RSS will advocate restraint in
artistic freedom lest it should hurt the sentiments of any section of
society. The MSM, The Government, The artists will term the publisher
of the translation and the translator as mischief monger and
antisocial elements. However, before they have opined, we can still
give them a small benefit of the doubt against all odds. However,
don't be disappointed if you are disappointed!

But don't forget to ask the question: Who among these two are artists?
MF Hussein or Tasleema Nasreen, or both?

Posted by samAlochaka

http://medsyn.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-among-these-two-are-artists-mf.html

The age of reason
Thursday , March 04, 2010 at 11 : 43

The Only Major Religion To Emerge in 20th Century. Watch Online
VideoAds by Google
What if freedom of speech is untouched and untainted by religion? Why
does freedom of speech and expression get challenged just at the
threshold where religion seems to rear its head? Why is Hindu or
Muslim way of life as distinct and separate from the bedrock that
constitutes way of life for the entire humanity?

Are we to assume Socrates did deserve a death he ordained for himself
for having spoken his mind. A mind that laid bare the arrogance and
sham of the powers-that-be. Was Plato wrong in disseminating his
guru's Republic? Was not Buddhism pushed out of this country for
having challenged the dominant religious thought process of the times
and having laid bare the chinks in its armour?

Should we leave Thackerays and Bhagwats of this world to interpret one
of the oldest religions for any one of us. If Husain is accused of
painting Hindu pantheon goddesses in nude, what degree and intensity
of religio-sexual freedom are we espousing lending ourselves to
worshipping the symbolic phallus grounded in a symbolic vagina in the
most detailed manner? Should not the practice be discontinued because
it rebels against our sense and sensibility? Faithfuls all over have
obviously devised better ways to appease their gods. But this one
takes the cake.

What harm would be brought upon a Muslim woman divorcee if the law of
the land grants her alumni as against a shariati adalat which imposes
primitive justice? Why should economically weaker sections of the
society, across religions, be denied benefits of reservation? Or are
they condemned to live a life coloured by caste and religious bias and
tainted by that ultimate bias - poverty? Did not those who claim to be
Aryans encroach on the rights of the native aboriginals when they
settled in India and claimed it to be their own land?

Did Shah Rukh deserve such an acrimony for what he said? Prove that he
is NOT a better Indian than you and me. Prove that Husain is not as
much an Indian as you and me. Prove that Indian Muslims deserve to
come under the right-wingers' swords because somebody planned and put
aflame innocent passengers on board a train or per chance a train
bogey caught fire. And because somebody's god of small things differs
in imagery than yours.

The onus to prove anything is on Raj Thackeray, Bal Thackeray, Modi,
bigoted religious preachers and on a government that takes pride in
tom-toming secularism but every so often is found weak-kneed in
tackling the slightest ho-hum by religious fundamentalists. The onus
to come out clean on our inconsiderate ways of interpreting 'us'
versus 'them,' on our own parochial ways of juxtaposing relationships
in the backdrop of our sustained ignorance lies very much on us as a
collective band that constitutes a society rather than on one Shah
Rukh Khan or a MF Husain. Because at the end of it all what we help
build is an impenetrable layer of fanaticism around us that does not
allow space for freedom of speech and expression.

For these are the same forces who will pin you down to a number game
because that is one domain they claim confidence of having an edge
over reason. If surveys could have delivered the country of all its
ills and controversies a grand Ram temple mounted with a gold-polished
Hindu-ite symbol jutting out of its structure would have been adorning
the Ayodhya sky right above the disputed site as the potent symbol of
militant Hinduism.

But for past two decades and more, society has precisely been hijacked
by the thought process of a political class defined by the RSS and its
'Hindutva' affiliates. For the Sangh Parivar, symbols of the Ramayana
as envisaged in Valmiki and Tulsi Ramayana are the unquestionable
symbols of faith which every 'Hindu worth his salt' must adhere and
propagate.

For the record though there are as many versions of Ramayana followed
across south and South-East Asian countries which put Ram and Ravana
in a different light than the characters described in Valmiki's
Ramayana. A Buddhist jataka (tale) of Ramayana projects Ram and Sita
as siblings. In a Thai version of the Ramayana, Hanuman is not a
celibate but far from it, he's quite a ladies man who loves to do a
peeping-Tom when in Lanka. Ravana, along with Ram is worshipped as a
great sage in Buddhist and Jain versions of the Ramayana. There are
certain versions of the Ramayana written from Sita's perspective who
claims victory over Ram. Jyotiba Phule, Periyar and Babasaheb Ambedkar
had a different take on Valmiki's Ramayana from a purely caste-based
angle. In their version Ram is more or less a symbol of upper caste
out to subjugate the original inhabitants of this great land.

The point in question is also not whether Husain could or should have
retained Indian citizenship. The issue is not about citizenship at all
and those harping on it, whether inadvertently or not, are playing in
the hands of those who espouse rabid sentiments. What if those brush
strokes were brought to fall on the canvas by a Hari Krishna than a
Husain. Would he still been forced into exile by our samaj and become
the object of abject hate. Or the same samaj would have treated him
differently because he belongs to majority faith. But again we already
have answered this double-speak years ago because we did not reserve
such sentiments for Husain's contemporary from the field of Hindustani
music going by the name of Pandit Ravi Shankar. No ho-hum was raised
when Ravi Shankar quietly settled in the US accusing the Indian
government of not recognising his achievements enough. But Panditji
was conferred the Bharat Ratna soon enough. He has been living in the
US past over two decades, and now only visits India along with his
daughter Anoushka, purportedly to establish her in a land that gave
him international fame and considered him as one of its 'Ratnas'. But
when Husain takes up Qatari citizenship his faith is questioned and
being brought in direct clash with civilisational pundits.

What kind of democratic liberalism and inclusiveness are we professing
that feeds on suspicion and gets threatened by a mere brush stroke.
Inclusive development is all about taking the path of reason. It is
about all-round sahishundta ( tolerance ) - a trait eroding,
unfortunately, at a speed faster than opening a software fired by
Windows 7. We will but only have ourselves to blame for its
extinction, much as the falling count of tigers in India.

Clarification from Anoushka Shankar pertaining to the above post:

1. My father has never taken citizenship anywhere outside of India
though he has been offered it his whole life!

2. He "visits" India every year despite the health risks posed to him
here to "establish" the music centre he has sweated blood to build on
his own private funding and which he chose to build in India and not
abroad. So while I'm totally against the fuss about Husainji and think
it's ridiculous, I don't think my father should be inaccurately
dragged into this.

Posted by Prabhat Shunglu

Total Comments: 1

Posted 2010-03-04 14:53:44 : By ibrahimrasool

Hello Prabhat,

Its true that some fanatics are going overboard in reacting to
critique or offbeat views on their religion. Its saddening that two
civilians have been killed in some orchestrated protests in Karnataka
in response to the publication of an article purportedly written by
Tasleema Nasreen. The fundamentalists behind these protests should be
vehemently condemned.

But at the same time, we should not fail to identify malafide attacks
on religious beliefs. We can not give a free chit to anyone who, in
the guise of creative thinking, spews slur on religion.

Anyone who wants to critictize religion should go the extra mile and
explain to the public the honest intentions behind their criticisms.
Today in this digital era, there is a variety of media for one to
express his views and substantially justify the same. They should not
dare to think that they can attack any faith indiscriminately and then
take refuge in the clout of progressive thinkers.
If they do so, then they can't expect any sympathy from public if they
are outsmarted by their fanatic counterparts.
Whatever be the intentions of MF Hussain, Rushdie or Tasleema Nasreen,
they failed to explain their good intentions to the public at large.
And we faithfuls hate to see someone abusing our religion.

Head-On

Prabhat Shunglu

Prabhat has been a journalist for the last 19 years. Began his career
as a cub reporter with The Statesman before moving on to The Pioneer
and The Times of India. Was a member of the core team of reporters
that helped launch 24-hour news channel Aaj Tak. Extensively reported
from war zones of Kargil, Afghanistan and Iraq. Covered national and
Assembly elections in J&K, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Punjab and
Madhya Pradesh. And disasters like Gujarat earthquake. Headed the
North India bureau of Star News. Currently, Editor-Special Assignments
with IBN7.

Previous Posts

+ The Sangh Parivar and the 'Ajit' factor
http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/prabhatshunglu/2416/53573/the-sangh-parivar-and-the-ajit-factor.html
+ Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri: Cracking the political Sudoku
+ Reel nahi, apun ko real Gandhigiri maangta!
+ Advani out, Varun is the new star on BJP horizon
http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/prabhatshunglu/2416/53285/advani-out-varun-is-the-new-star-on-bjp-horizon.html

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/prabhatshunglu/2416/61604/the-age-of-reason.html

Editorial
Political maturity
Thursday, March 4, 2010 23:23 IST

There is an ongoing case at the Bombay High Court which should serve
as an exemplar for political protests across the nation. In January
2009, a group apparently led by Shiv Sena MLA Sitaram Dalvi caused
some damage to a hotel in Mumbai after a labour dispute went wrong.
Dalvi was fined about Rs8 lakh. The police identified Dalvi because he
wrote a letter to the police asking permission to use a loudspeaker.
Dalvi is now contesting the fine, claiming that the courts should
approach his party leader Bal Thackeray to pay the fine as he has paid
Rs2 lakh and cannot pay any more.

The question of damage to property by political workers has now
started to bother the judiciary in India. For a long time, it was seen
as a legitimate form of protest and most parties just expected either
the government of the day or the private citizen to put up with the
damage. In some way, this was a legacy of our colonial past where
freedom fighters were ranged against a foreign alien power.

However, that argument has not been viable for the past 60 odd years.
The government belongs to all of us — so in some sense, political
vandals expect us to pay for their irresponsible behaviour. And
private citizens also have rights in a free and independent India.
Both these facts have dawned on us only in recent times and the courts
and the local administration have both refused to turn a blind eye to
damage caused by political protestors.

The Mumbai case once again underlines the need for political maturity
in India. We need to find ways to have disagreements which do not
descend into violence. The recent disturbances in Karnataka where some
members of the Muslim community objected to an alleged article by
exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen — which she has denied
writing — sadly led to deaths and to damage. The violent reaction
after allegations of sexual misconduct by godman Nithyananda Swami in
Tamil Nadu is another example of quickly things can get out of hand.

This court case against the Shiv Sena leader in Mumbai serves as a
salutary lesson to political parties accustomed to using destruction
and turmoil as bullying tactics. The people, the judiciary and the
administration have seen through their bluff. By hitting back where it
hurts people the most — in their pocket — the courts may well have
found the way to instil some discipline into the formally
irrepressible.

http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/editorial_political-maturity_1355367

Bhosle on Mumbai: Uddhav lashes out at Raj

Padmanabha Venugopal
First Published : 04 Mar 2010 03:21:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 04 Mar 2010 02:15:38 PM IST

MUMBAI: The browbeating between the two estranged cousins espousing
the Marthi manoos cause continued to hit the headlines in Maharashtra
with their bitter succession battle being fought in the people’s
court.

On Wednesday, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray
criticised MNS chief Raj Thackeray and said that those present at the
Pune function should have reacted to singer Asha Bhosale’s remark that
Mumbai belonged to all Indians.

The MNS chief was among the guests at the cultural evening organised
by a Marathi television channel.

Raj, who spoke after Asha at the function, did not react to the views
expressed by the singer.

However, they were seen exchanging views after the function and it was
not clear what transpired between the two.

Shiv Sena and its head Bal Thackeray had met with widespread protests
for criticising cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Reliance chairman
Mukesh Ambani similar comments.

Comments Ppl who comments on Raj Thackarey should first learn, write &
speak marathi ant then should give rest of explanations.............

By sudesh
3/5/2010 10:49:00 PM

Throw out all religion people from maharahtra who can't speak in
marathi.........................
By bhakti
3/5/2010 10:41:00 PM

Raj Thackarey will be the Emperor of Maharashtra in coming future
By rajesh
3/5/2010 10:37:00 PM

Raj Thackarey will be the Emperor of Maharashtra in coming future
By rajesh
3/5/2010 10:37:00 PM

Mumbai belongs only to maharahtra & MARATHI MANOOS
By swapnil
3/5/2010 10:31:00 PM

Personal views should always be welcomed, there no need to react so
violently to what one says, there's a right of expression for all the
people across India. If one side says something then the other side
cant be stopped to speak up on the same topic differently. It's called
code of conduct in humanity. All the time criticizing and raising up
voice against who so ever doesnt favour you is wrong.
By Sayoni
3/4/2010 9:52:00 AM

Dear Thakerays, Shun regional feelings. Let us make India great in the
eyes of world. You people should become national leaders and not mere
regional leaders. Do not restrict yourselves to only Mumbai. There is
huge world outside Mumbai. B. Raghunath Rao
By B. Raghunath Rao
3/4/2010 8:37:00 AM

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Bhosle+on+Mumbai:+Uddhav+lashes+out+at+Raj&artid=jpjrgICqtKk=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=&SEO=

...and I am Sid Harth

[Dušan Vukotić]

Loading Image...

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Post by Dušan Vukotić
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/Monkeys2/images/NGMonkey.jpg

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thread/thread/f9b738e079fef9fb#

...and I am Sid Harth

[chhotemianinshallah]

Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects:
Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir
Mridu Rai

Paper | 2004 | $28.95
320 pp. | 5 x 8

Paper $20.00

Full Text of this book, thanks to the Google.
http://books.google.com/books/princeton?hl=en&q=Hindu+Rulers%2C+Muslim+Subjects%3A&vid=ISBN9780691116884&btnG.x=15&btnG.y=10#v=snippet&q=Hindu%20Rulers%2C%20Muslim%20Subjects%3A&f=false


Disputed between India and Pakistan, Kashmir contains a large majority
of Muslims subject to the laws of a predominantly Hindu and
increasingly "Hinduized" India. How did religion and politics become
so enmeshed in defining the protest of Kashmir's Muslims against Hindu
rule? This book reaches beyond standard accounts that look to the 1947
partition of India for an explanation. Examining the 100-year period
before that landmark event, during which Kashmir was ruled by Hindu
Dogra kings under the aegis of the British, Mridu Rai highlights the
collusion that shaped a decisively Hindu sovereignty over a subject
Muslim populace. Focusing on authority, sovereignty, legitimacy, and
community rights, she explains how Kashmir's modern Muslim identity
emerged.

Rai shows how the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was formed as
the East India Company marched into India beginning in the late
eighteenth century. After the 1857 rebellion, outright annexation was
abandoned as the British Crown took over and princes were incorporated
into the imperial framework as junior partners. But, Rai argues,
scholarship on other regions of India has led to misconceptions about
colonialism, not least that a "hollowing of the crown" occurred
throughout as Brahman came to dominate over King. In Kashmir the Dogra
kings maintained firm control. They rode roughshod over the interests
of the vast majority of their Kashmiri Muslim subjects, planting the
seeds of a political movement that remains in thrall to a religiosity
thrust upon it for the past 150 years.

Review:

"Rai's contribution lies in the extremely thorough and painstaking
documentation that she provides when tracing the marginalization of
the native inhabitants of Kahmir, the chicanery of the British, and
the fecklessness of the Dogra rulers. Her account of the growth of
Muslim religio-political consciousness in the early part of the
twentieth century . . . unearths a wealth of detail. . . . Rai's book
is a useful one. Those interested in understanding the background of
the continuing tragedy in Kahmir will find much to consider in her
substantial account of the historical backdrop."--Sumit Ganguly,
Journal of Asian Studies

Endorsements:

"Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects is a brilliant work of historical
scholarship that will become indispensable reading for all those
interested in the modern history and politics of the subcontinent. It
a pioneering historical study of rights, religion, and regional
identity in Kashmir that could also inspire future studies on other
regions of the subcontinent."--Sugata Bose, Harvard University

"This is a major contribution to Kashmir studies and should set the
standard for the next generation of publications on Kashmir.
Challenging the existing literature, this work is heady and fresh--and
deserves attention."--Alexander Evans, King's College London and the
Royal Institute of International Affairs

"Mridu Rai's book reminds us powerfully of the crucial importance of
colonial history to the present. She is able to de-essentialize
religion and secularism in the Kashmir conflict, which is very useful
in light of India's secularist claims and the ways in which some
sociologists have theorized those claims. Carefully researched and
lucidly conceptualized and written, this book forwards an important
thesis on an important topic."--Peter van der Veer, University of
Amsterdam

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements x
Abbreviations xii
Introduction 1

CHAPTER 1: Territorializing Sovereignity: The Dilemmas of Control and
Collaboration 18

CHAPTER 2: The Consolidation of Dogra Legitimacy in Kashmir: Hindu
Rulers and a Hindu State 80

CHAPTER 3: The Obligations of Rulers and the Rights of Subjects 128

CHAPTER 4: Contested Sites: Religious Shrines and the Archaeological
Mapping of Kashmiri Muslim Protest 183

CHAPTER 5: Political Mobilization in Kashmir: Religious and Regional
Identities 224
Conclusion 288

Glossary 298
Bibliography 305
Index 319

Book Review

Mridu Rai. Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the
History of Kashmir. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2004. Pp.
xi, 335. Cloth $65.00, paper $22.50.

Chitralekha Zutshi. Languages of Belonging: Islam, Regional Identity,
and the Making of Kashmir. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Pp. xvi, 359. $35.00.

Ever since the India-Pakistan near war of 2001–2002, we have been
subject to an incessant flow of words on the Kashmir conflict. Sadly,
this deluge has done little to enhance our knowledge of the subject.
Bar changing the odd adjectives, adding a little detail, or inserting
the views of the proverbial man on the street, little has been added
to Sumit Ganguly's Crisis in Kashmir: Portents of War, Prospects of
Peace (1997) or Victoria Schofield's Kashmir in Conflict: India,
Pakistan, and the Unending War (2000). Two new histories have been
widely applauded for constituting a happy break with this dismal
tradition. Little attention has been paid, however, to the
considerable theoretical and empirical problems presented by Mridu
Rai's and Chitralekha Zutshi's books. 1
Both Rai and Zutshi deal with a critical period in the history
of Jammu and Kashmir: the century of Dogra monarchical rule that
preceded the independence of India and Pakistan, and the division of
the state between the two powers in the course of the war of 1947. It
was in this period that the welter of territories that constitute
modern Kashmir were welded together under a single power, a
consequence of Britain's handing over of the region to Maharaja Gulab
Singh, a prince who sided with the empire's war of conquest against
the Sikh kingdom of Lahore. Like the other semi-independent states of
princely India, Kashmir witnessed a constant struggle for influence
between the monarchy and the imperial government. It was to become the
site of a number of other contestations: of monarch against democrat;
of empire against nationalist; of Hindu against Muslim; of peasant
against landlord. 2
Rai sees this century as one in which a "Hindu State" was
formed, the consequence of the Dogra monarchy's search for legitimacy.
Lacking any real basis for its sovereignty over the peoples whose
destinies it now controlled, it responded by inventing a history in
which the Dogra dynasty represented both the Hindu faith and Rajput
martial tradition. Rai maps this process by carefully documenting the
Dogra monarchy's growing control of Hindu religious practice in
Kashmir, notably through state-controlled trusts. Since the state was
Hindu in character, Rai concludes, "religion and politics became
inextricably intertwined in defining and expressing the protest of
Kashmiri Muslims against their rulers" (pp. 16–17). 3
Zutshi arrives at similar conclusions, but with considerably
more attention to nuance and detail. Her study of the workings of
Dogra rule suggests the need for a careful examination of what, if
any, meaning the notion of a "Hindu state" may have actually had to
contemporaries. There was, Zutshi's narrative suggests, no unilinear
project of Hinduization under the Dogras; rather, there were complex
and fluid processes of collaboration and conflict among various
categories of elites, both Hindu and Muslim. Kashmir's small Brahmin
community, the Pandits, whom Rai sees as key collaborators of the
Dogra project, emerge at least one point in Zutshi's book as its most
bitter opponents. Notions of a homogeneous Kashmiri Muslim identity,
Zutshi's analysis suggests, need to be tempered by an understanding of
the working of caste, class, and ideology.

http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/110.3/br_31.html

Customer Review

The Challenging Natures of Kashmir, May 25, 2007
By T. Dodge

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

"Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects" covers the macro historical, social,
religious, and political highlights in Kashmir from about 1840 to
1950. It is a fascinating view into a world far distant but fearfully
close as two modern nuclear armed adversaries seek domination over the
mystical lands of Kashmir. This is a book of essential preliminary
understandings to the current situation in the region and of the
volumes I have encountered is the best. I hope the author contemplates
another book dealing with the post 1947 era. For those seeking recent
political happenings, I suggest "Kashmir" by Sumantra Bose.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1TLIUMBUTBR1D

Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of
Kashmir
by Mridu Rai

maryum's review

excellent book!!! really worthwhile reading and very meticulous
research on the impact of colonialism on kashmir. one of the few books
that looks at the kashmiri conflict from the perspective of the
kashmiris and not as a pawn in an india-pakistan chess match.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/370620

Paper $20.00
31% off regular price

Paper: $28.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-11688-4

File created: 10/18/2009

Questions and comments to: ***@press.princeton.edu
Princeton University Press

Mainstream Weekly

Mainstream, Vol XLV, No 38

Book Review: ’The Hindu-Muslim Divide : A Fresh Look by Amrik Singh’
Sunday 9 September 2007

[(BOOK REVIEW)]

The Hindu-Muslim Divide : A Fresh Look by Amrik Singh; Vitasta
Publishing Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi; 2007; pp. XIV+238; Rs 345.

It is ironic that around the time we are celebrating 60 years of
India’s independence, the subject under discussion here is the Hindu-
Muslim divide, instead of it being harmony between members of
different communities in our free country. But one has to face the
facts and hence this discourse.

The author of the book under review, Dr Amrik Singh, starts it with a
painful note: “As generally recognised, the Hindu-Muslim divide has
existed in India for about thousand years. The partition of India into
India and Pakistan in 1947 was the latest instalment in this
longstanding dispute.” (p. 3) But soon he sounds a note of optimism:
“But one thing is clear that, despite signals to the contrary, the two
warring communities are nearer an understanding with each other than
ever before.” No convincing reason is provided for the optimistic
note, and the author goes further and adds that the situation is
likely to change in about half a century or more (what a satisfying
thought!), even though it is stated: “In these matters, no one can be
precise.”

It is not very easy to agree with the author’s assertion about the
thousand year old Hindu-Muslim divide. For, India is known for its
composite culture, and quite a good part of the last thousand years
have been known to be marked by considerable harmony with some
aberrations. But aberrations are at times unavoidable and even the
intra-community conflicts and divisive trends have been there in the
concerned groups. When the Pakistani leader, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
during the more fanatic phase of his political life (something the
author makes a reference to) had talked about a thousand year war, his
bravado had the future in mind.

One would, in fact, like to go back to much older times, than the last
thousand years. It may be pointed out that composite culture had been
the feature of India even before the beginning of the first century
AD. The contributing influences all these years had been the teachings
of Gautam Buddha, the Vedic and Vedantic ideals of tolerance and
spiritual values, the disarming qualities of the Sufi value and the
noble sentiments of the Bhakti movement, and, more recently, the
thoughts of personalities like Swami Vivekananda, Maulana Azad, Altaf
Husain Hali and those believing in secular ideals among other factors.

While the commingling of Sufi and Bhakti ideals is an extremely
cherished heritage of the past, the state of confrontation, in recent
times, one has to admit, between the campaign of Tableegh and Shuddhi
(mentioned by the author while stating the effort of Hinduism for
‘semitisation’) (p. 132) is a tragic episode in our saga of composite
culture : like a bad dream one would perhaps like to forget.

EVEN without agreeing fully with the basic statement of the author
with regard to a thousand year old divide one would like to praise him
for covering the subject of Hindu-Muslim divide in a very
comprehensive manner particularly in the recent past. Dr Amrik Singh
has covered the entire ground by recounting how the spirit of mutual
understanding and conciliation gave way to conflict between the
Muslims and Hindus. Much discussion is available about the factors
responsible for this conflict leading to the partition of the country
along with its independence, the roles of leaders of the two
communities during those traumatic years and, indeed, the shape this
conflict has taken in today’s India.

The book is in the form of notes on different subjects relevant to its
theme, probably written at different points of time. But it contains a
wealth of information on the nature and cause of the divide—the
machinations of the British rulers, the folly of partition, the
practice of separate electorates, and even the complexities of adult
franchise and a joint electorate, the polarisation between the two
communities, the present concept of Hindutva and many other factors
that the author has painstakingly gone into. The author has laid great
emphasis on the need for pluralism and for a policy “in the direction
of reducing the Hindu-Muslim divide and work towards what has been
described as pluralism,” as he puts it.

Dr Amrik Singh has given some very perceptive opinions of acknowledged
experts on Hinduism and Islam, some approvingly while others with his
note of critique. Consider the quote from the eminent historian, Prof.
M. Habib (whom he describes as the “tallest historian of medieval
India”):

A Hindu feels it is his duty to dislike those whom he has been taught
to consider the enemies of his religion and his ancestors; the Muslim,
lured into the false belief that he was once a member of a ruling
race, feels insufferably wronged by being relegated to the status of a
minority community. Fools both! Even if the Muslims eight centuries
ago were as bad as they were painted, would there be any sense in
holding the present generation responsible for their deeds? It is but
an imaginative tie that joins the modern Hindu with Harshvardhana or
Asoka, or the modern Muslim with Shahabuddin or Mahmud.

“That these words were written several years after the partition makes
them even more relevant than they would have been otherwise,” says Dr
Amrik Singh and every rightly. (p. 200) Members of both the
communities can gain from introspecting in the light of the late
historians’ observation.

At another place, the author quotes Girilal Jain who, according to
him, “apart from being a leading journalist, was a keen student of
Hinduism”: Unlike the Muslims, the Hindus do not possess a vision of
the future, which is rooted in the past for a variety of reasons, one
of them being that, unlike the Muslims, they have not been able to
invent a golden age which can be located in any kind of history and
that they cannot invent one. While, they would, if challenged, vaguely
own up all Indian history up to the beginning of the Muslim invasions
of north India in the 11th century, they do not identify themselves
with any particular period. Indeed, they have little sense of history.
So how can they have a golden age and how can a people without such a
sense engage in revivalism? What can they seek to revive? Hinduism is
an arbitrary imposition on a highly variegated civilisation, which is
truly oceanic in its range. Such a civilisation cannot be enclosed in
a narrow doctrine. It cannot have a central doctrine because in its
majestic sweep it takes up all that comes its way and adapts it to its
over-widening purpose, rejecting finally what is wholly alien and
cannot be accommodated at all. Attempts have been made to build
embankments around this ocean-like reality to give it a shape and
definition. But these have not succeeded. The spirit of India has
refused to be contained. To put it differently, Hinduism has refused
to be organised. By the same token, it has refused to be communalised.
(p. 135)

Amrik Singh reacts to Jain’s stipulations: “While it is true that
Hinduism has refused to be organised and it has refused to be
communalised, how is it that today we witness what Nehru once
described as ‘non-Muslim aggression among Muslims’?” The author says
that this phrase of Nehru occurs in one of his letters addressed to
the Chief Ministers after the police action in Hyderabad.

IN the context of the Hindutva philosophy, it would be relevant to
consider the following quote from the late K.R. Malkani who became
known as the Editor of the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, and an ideologue
of the Bharatiya Janata Party:

The Muslim Indian should realise that Hinduism is not a religion, but
a culture. That he is Muslim by religion but Hindu by culture. Let
Indonesia with its Muslim religion and native Hindu culture be the
model for the Muslim in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. (p. 138)

Malkani’s prescription is not possible, says Amrik Singh, either in
terms of physical or political considerations or in terms of their
historical evolution. “While Hinduism has a hoary tradition behind it,
the pre-Islamic traditions in Indonesia are not even clearly defined.”

Incidentally, at the time of writing this review a mammoth gathering
of Muslim men and women with hijab (about 100,000) including scholars
and religious leaders from different parts of the world, is
deliberating in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, in search of ways to
establish a single Muslim government in the Islamic world (on the
ideals of Khilafat-e-Islamia) largely at the initiative of a group of
Indonesian Muslims. But that is another story that needs to be
considered in its own context.

The author feels that the effort to remove the present divide has
largely to be on the part of the Congress party. The removal of the
divide is linked with economic and political development of the
country. He says, “The Congress—currently in power—owes it to the
Muslims to bring them at par with others and thereafter involve them
in the process of development, both economic and political. The
Congress also has the further obligation to help the Muslims to draw
abreast of others socially.” (p. 191)

The author says that in seeking to separate from India, they (the
Muslims) followed a path which culminated in the partition of India in
1947. In the ultimate analysis that was a mistake, which Jinnah and
those who followed him had made. “Since the kind of Islamic future
that the Muslims of the subcontinent had aspired for themselves is
running into problem, sooner or later the thinking of the Muslim world
will make them learn from experience and come to terms with the
changed reality. But when? It is difficult to answer this question,”
the author says.

The author is of the view that the solution to the Hindu-Muslim divide
is linked, to a great extent, with the normalisation of relations
between India and Pakistan. The problem in India cannot be isolated
from the problem in Pakistan. The triumph of fundamentalism will be
bad for Indian Muslims as well. An end to confrontation would help
remove the divide in India, he says.

What, according to the author, is the prospect of the Hindu-Muslim
divide disappearing?—one may ask. He talks very enthusiastically of an
Indian version of globalisation. This globalisation is the result of a
“new mix of policies”, that are going to help all Indians including
Muslims.

He states: What has made it easier for India to adjust to the changing
world relatively more easily is partly because Hinduism is more
adjustable to the logic of the contemporary idea of development. If
India succeeds in this experiment, as seems to be happening, the
Indian Muslims too can before long, become a part of this experiment.
Currently, they are somewhat estranged from the mainstream. (p. 225)

Dr Amrik Singh would want the Indian Government to push ahead
vigorously with the spread of education and the Indian Muslims to give
evidence of some “political initiative” and “political maturity”.

According to the author, the confrontation with the United States now
“...is partly coming in the way of the Islamic world breaking with her
past”. If the US were not so confrontationist, he says, things in the
Islamic world would to some extent start changing, “sooner than is
happening at the moment”. According to him, India’s role in this
context is “positive, if not also praiseworthy”. And, India’s version
of globalisation can prompt others, even those in the Islamic world,
to move in that direction.

Dr Amrik Singh feels that if what is stated above happens, the “Hindu-
Muslim divide in India will gradually weaken”. More than that, he
says, this would give rise to “a new era in world history in more than
one sense”. What happens in India, according to him, would be of
considerable historical significance. “Indeed, it can also prove to be
a development of a wider economic and cultural significance.” Amen!

The reviewer, a veteran journalist who worked for several years in
Mainstream, currently edits the periodical Alpjan.

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article302.html

Mainstream Weekly

Mainstream, Vol XLVI No 28

Day One in Calcutta
Monday 30 June 2008, by From NC’s Writings

Ten years ago, in the afternoon of June 27, 1998, Nikhil Chakravartty
breathed his last. Remembering him after 10 years, we are reproducing
some of his finest reports, editorials and articles that appeared in
this journal and elsewhere over the last sixty years. We are also
reproducing the speech that our former President, K.R. Narayanan,
delivered while unveiling N.C.’s portrait at the Press Council of
India (New Delhi, February 28, 1999), and publishing several
reminiscences by those who knew him intimately.


The following report by Nikhil Chakravartty, the Calcutta
correspondent of People’s Age (published from Bombay), appeared in the
weekly’s August 24, 1947 issue (it was wired from Calcutta on August
17, 1947) under the following headlines : ‘End of a Nightmare and
Birth of New Dawn!’; ‘Calcutta Transformed by Spirit Of Independence’;
‘Hindus, Muslims Hug Each Other In Wild Joy—Tears Roll Down Where
Blood Once Soaked The Streets’.

Frenzy has overtaken Calcutta. It is a frenzy which no city in India
has ever felt through the long years of thraldom under the British.

When the clock struck midnight and Union Jacks were hauled down on
August 15, 1947, the city shook to her very foundations for a mad
frenzy overtook her 40 lakh citizens. Nothing like this has ever
happened before.

I have racked my brains for hours; I have looked up all despatches in
the Press; but still I find no adequate words to communicate the
unforgettable experience that has overwhelmed me in the last three
days. It is like a sudden bursting of a mighty dam: you hear a
deafening roar of water sweeping away everything in the flood. It
comes with a crushing suddenness and strikes with the strength of a
thousand giants.

That is how all of us in Calcutta have felt in the last few days—all
of us, old or young, man or woman, Hindu or Muslim, rich or poor. In
this mighty sweep of the flood none was spared. And the floods carried
off a lot of dirt and stigma of our slavery.

Calcutta is Reborn

ONE hundred and ninety years ago, it was from Calcutta that Clive set
out of conquer this land of ours and it was this city which was the
seat of all his vile intrigues that divided our ranks and brought
about our defeat. But today in the sweeping torrent of freedom all
that has been wiped away, and once again this beloved city of ours
stands out clean and full of radiance with the glow of lasting
brotherhood.

Everybody felt nervous about August 15. Weeks ahead authorities were
on tenterhooks; more police and military were being posted to ensure
peace. Ministers would not permit meetings in the open to celebrate
the transfer of power, afraid that the goondas might create trouble.
East Bengal Hindus were nervous that one little spark in Calcutta
might throw the entire province into the flames of a civil war;
Muslims were panicky that they might be finished off in Calcutta and
many had left the city.

Gandhiji had already moved his camp to one of the most affected areas—
Belliaghata—and cancelling his East Bengal trip, had decided to spend
a few days here with Suhrawardy. But even he was disturbed by rowdy
goondas, backed by communal groups, accusing him of being an enemy of
Hindus. News from the Punjab was bad. On the whole an uncanny fear
gripped everybody and the day of independence seemed like a deadline
for disturbances.

But how wrong were our calculations! With all our pretensions of
knowing our people, with all the prophecies and warnings, bans and
precautions, no one really knew how the people—common men and women
among both Hindus and Muslims—would come forward to celebrate August
15. It was this unknown factor, which in every turn of history is the
determining factor, that has made all the difference in our
calculations and the actual happenings on that day.

People’s preparations for the celebrations of the day went on briskly,
though imperceptibly. The demand for Tri-colours knew no bounds;
whatever be the material, whatever the make, every flag was literally
sold out. Even the poorest of the poor, coolie, scavenger or rickshaw-
puller, bought the Jhanda. In paras and mohallas boys and girls were
getting ready practising drills or formations, organising Prabhat
Pheris. Party differences, personal bickerings, etc. were forgotten.

Discordant voices there were, but they did not matter. Mahasabha first
raised the slogan of black flags, but then piped down and declared non-
participation. But all the prestige of Shyamaprosad could not make any
impression on the very people whom he had swayed during the Partition
campaign.

Forward Bloc and Tagorites also opposed the celebration on the ground
that real freedom was yet to be won. But despite the fact that
thousands of Bengali homes paid homage to Netaji that day hardly a
handful abstained from participation. Every school, factory, office,
every home—be it a mansion or a bustee—awaited the great day with
hearts full of jubilation.

As the zero hour approached, the city put on a changed appearance. On
the streets, people were busy putting up flags and decorating
frontage. Gates were set up at important crossings, bearing names of
our past titans like Ashoka or our martyrs in the freedom movement.
The atmosphere was tense; should there be a new round of stabbings or
shootings among brothers, or should there be return to peace and
normalcy?

All Barriers Broken

THE first spontaneous initiative for fraternisation came from Muslim
bustees and was immediately responded to by Hindu bustees. It was
Calcutta’s poor toilers, especially Muslims, who opened the floodgate,
and none could have dreamt of what actually took place.

Muslim boys clambered up at Chowringhee and shouted, “Hindu-Muslim ek
ho” and exhorted the driver to take them to Bhowanipore. But the
driver would not risk that and so they came up to the border only.

But then all of a sudden in the very storm-centres of most gruesome
rioting of the past year—Raja Bazar, Sealdah, Kalabagan, Colootolah,
Burra Bazar—Muslims and Hindus ran across the frontiers and hugged
each other in wild joy. Tears rolled down where once blood had soaked
the pavements. “Jai Hind”, “Vande Mataram”, “Allah-ho-Akbar” and above
all renting the sky “Hindu-Muslim ek ho”.

Curfews were ignored; men rushed out on the streets, danced, clasped
and lifted each other up. It was all like a sudden end of a nightmare,
the birth of a glorious dawn.

As midnight approached, crowds clustered round every radio set and
Jawaharlal’s ringing words sent a thrill round every audience,
“Appointed day has come —the day appointed by destiny..”

With the stroke of midnight, conch-shells blew in thousands, conch-
shells blown by our mothers and sisters from the innermost corners of
our homes—for the call of freedom has reached every nook and corner.
And with the conch-shells were heard the crack of rifles and bursting
of bombs and crackers. The very arms that were stored so long to kill
off brothers were being used to herald the coming of freedom.

A torchlight procession started in North Calcutta. Tram workers, in
all spontaneity, brought out a couple of trams crowded with Hindus to
the Nakhoda mosque and were feted by Muslims with food and drink. In
Burra Bazar, Muslims were treated the same way and all embraced one
another. Hardly anybody slept that night—the night choked with
passionate emotions welling up in so many ways.

As the morning came the city was already full of excitment and
pavements were thronged with people. Prabhat Pheris came out singing
songs of the national struggle. Boys and girls marched through the
streets with bands and bugles—bright and smart, free citizens of
tomorrow.

Flag salutations in every park, in every school and office. Buses
plied free, giving joy rides to thousands. Trams announced that all
their returns would be sent for relief. And they ran till late at
night along all mixed routes which were closed for the past year.

At the Government House, our own Government was to unfurl the
Tricolour, but invitees were confined to Burra Sahibs and officials,
the rich and elite, Ministers and Legislators. They came in big cars,
many with their wives dressed in all their fashionable clothes.

Government House—People’s Property

COMMON people, those that have made freedom possible, they too came in
thousands, but they were kept outside, beyond the huge iron gates. Why
must this be so? Why must this occasion be celebrated in the way the
White Sahibs have done so long?

I watched that crowd growing restless every minute and found among
them the very faces that you come across in the streets every day or
at the market or in your own home: babu, coolie, student, Professor,
young girl and shy wife—all jostling with each other, impatient at
being kept out. Sikh, Muslim, Bhayya and Bhadralok clamoured for the
gates to be opened and when that was not done, they themselves burst
into the spacious grounds and ran up towards the Governor’s stately
mansion.

The burst into the rooms much to the annoyance of the officials and
perhaps also of the marble busts of many of the White rulers that have
never been disturbed in their majesty.

For hours they thronged there, thousands over thousands of them,
shoving out many of the ICS bosses. But it would be a slander to say
that they were unruly. How little did they touch or damage? Had they
been unruly, as somebody had reported to Gandhiji, the whole place
would have been a wreck in no time.

They went there for they felt that it was one of their own leaders who
had been installed as their Governor. And when the annoyed officials
ran up to Rajaji to complain to him about the crowd swarming into the
rooms, C.R., it is reported, replied: “But what can I do? It is their
own property. How can I prevent them from seizing it?”

The sense of triumph, of pride that we have come to our own could be
seen in the faces that entered the portals of the Government House. It
is symptomatic of August 15 no doubt. For though there were
restrictions and curtailments to real freedom in the elaborate plans
the Dominion Status, the people—the common humanity that teems our land
—have taken this day to mean that that have won and no amount of
restrictions will bar the way, just as no policeman could stop the
surging crowd that broke into the Government House.

Outside, all over the city, houses seemed to have emptied out into the
streets, lorries came in hundreds, each packed precariously beyond
capacity; lorries packed with Hindus and Muslims, men and women.
Streets were blocked and the people themselves volunteered to control
traffic.

Rakhi Bandhan Again

LORRY-LOADS of Muslim National Guards crammed with Gandhi-capped young
Hindu boys shouted themselves hoarse “Jai Hind”, “Hindu-Muslim ek ho”.

Somebody in Bhowanipore waved a League flag under a Tri-colour. What a
sight and what a suspense. But the days of hate were over and all
shouted together, “Hindu-Muslim ek ho!”

A batch of Hindu ladies went to Park Circus to participate in the flag
hoisting. They tied rakhi (strings of brotherly solidarity made famous
during Swadeshi days) round the wrists of Muslim National Guards. And
the Muslim boys said, “May we be worthy brothers!”

Hindu families, quiet and timid Bhadralok families, came in hundreds
to visit Park Circus with their wives and children in tikka gharries
piled by Muslims. Muslims, well-to-do and poor, visited Burra Bazar,
and Ballygunge in endless streams. And this was going on all these
three days.

They are all going to paras or mohallas they had to leave or where
they had lost their near and dear ones. Today there is no area more
attractive and more crowded than the very spots where the worst
butcheries had taken place. As if to expiate for the sins of the last
one year, Hindus and Muslims of Calcutta vied with each other to
consecrate their city with a new creed of mighty brotherhood.

On the evening of August 16, one year back, I sent you a despatch
which could describe but inadequately the mad lust for fratricidal
blood that had overtaken Calcutta that day. To mark the anniversary of
that day I visited the crowded parts of Hindu Burra Bazar and the
Muslim Colootola where in this one year hardly anyone passed alive
when spotted by the opposite community. But this evening Muslims were
the guests of honour at Burra Bazar and Hindus, as they visited
Colootola, were drenched with rose-water and attar and greeted with
lusty cheers of “Jai Hind”.

On the very evening, at Park Circus, was held a huge meeting of Hindus
and Muslims. Suhrawardy, J.C. Gupta, MLA, and Bhowani Sen spoke. It
was here that Suhrawardy asked the Muslims to go and implore the
evicted Hindus to come back to Park Circus.

At Belliaghata, Gandhiji’s presence itself has brought back hundreds
of Muslim families who had to leave in terror of their lives only a
few weeks back. And Gandhiji’s prayer meetings are attended by an ever
increasing concourse of Hindus and Muslims—themselves living symbols
of Hindu-Muslim unity.

Reports from Bengal districts also prove that this remarkable upsurge
of solidarity was not confined to Calcutta alone. In Dacca, despite
panic, Hindus and Muslims jointly participated in the celebration of
Pakistan, and Muslim leaders themselves intervened in one case where
the Congress flag was lowered, and the flag was raised again.

Everywhere Hindus showed response by honouring the Pakistan flag.
Joint Hindu-Muslim demonstrations were the marked features of the
occasion.

Reports from Comilla, Kusthia, Dinajpore, Krishnanagore, Munshinganj,
Malda and Jessore, all show that August 15 had passed off in peace and
amity. Only local fracas were reported from Kanchrapara, but the great
and good tidings from Calcutta eased the situation there.

In this mighty flood of freedom and brotherhood there is yet the sense
of suspense, for it came with such an incredible suddenness and
magnitude that many think it is too good to last long. It is like
holding a precious glass dome in your hands while you are in suspense
that it might fall and break at any moment.

Spontaneous assertion of people’s will for freedom and brotherly
solidarity needs to be harnessed in lasting forms and that is where
our leaders will be tested in the coming weeks.

Whatever happens, August 15 will be cherished for Calcutta’s grand
celebration on the eve of the end of the dark night of slavery and the
dawn of freedom. Calcutta yesterday was the symbol of our servitude
and fratricidal hate. Calcutta today is the beacon-light for free
India, asserting that freedom once resurrected can never be curbed or
destroyed, for all our millions of Hindus and Muslims together are
ready to stand together as its proud sentinels.

(People’s Age, August 24, 1947)

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article801.html

Mainstream Weekly

VOL XLV No 21

1857 In Our History
Monday 14 May 2007, by P C Joshi *

[(The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Great Indian Revolt
of 1857 is being observed this month. Though the spark for the Revolt
was lit by Mangal Pandey at Barrackpore earlier the same year, the
Revolt actually began in May at Meerut: on May 6, 85 sepoys of the 3rd
Bengal Cavalry at Meerut refused to use the cartridge, the cause of
the rebellion—all of them were placed under arrest; on May 9 these
sepoys were brought to a general punishment parade at the Meerut
Parade Ground, sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and stripped of
their uniforms. When the 11th and 12th Native Cavalry of the Bengal
Army assembled at the Parade Ground on May 10, they broke rank and
turned on the Commanding Officer Colonel Finnis who was shot dead—this
was the first incident of Revolt at Meerut; thereafter the sepoys
liberated the imprisoned sepoys, attacked the European Cantonment and
killed all the Europeans who could be found there. Then in conjunction
with the Roorkee sepoys, called to Meerut following the uprising, they
marched to Delhi where the first major incident took place on May 11
with the killing of Colonel Ripley.

We are carrying here excerpts from a seminal article “1857 In Our
History” by the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of
India, P.C. Joshi, whose birth centenary is being observed this year,
to mark the occasion. This article was presented at a symposium held
to observe the centenary of the 1857 Revolt in 1957; later it was
published alongwith other articles presented at the symposium in book
form (also edited by P.C. Joshi) by the People’s Publishing House, New
Delhi. —Editor)]

The few contemporary Indians who wrote on 1857 did so for the British.
The dominant British attitude is revealed in entitled, “The Bengali
Press, How to Deal with It”, published on August 9, 1896, in Pioneer,
a very influential British organ of the times:

We know how Englishmen within the memory of living men treated their
own newspaper writers… If a gentle and graceful writer forgot himself
so far as to call the Prince Regent ‘an Adonis of forty’ he got two
years’ ‘hard’. If a clergyman praised the French Revolution and
advocated Parliamentary reform and fair representation, he was
condemned to work in iron manacles, to wade in sludge among the vilest
criminals.

The writer advocated the infliction of the same punishment on an
Indian who dared to write on the Indian Mutiny of 1857.1

Indians thus had no say in this controversy but our rebel ancestors
with their heroic deeds and by shedding their warm blood had made
their contribution more eloquent than words....

It is inspiring to recall here what Marx thought of the 1857 national
uprising. As early as July 31, 1857, on the basis of Indian mail
carrying Delhi news up to June 17, he concluded his unsigned
newsletter to the New York Daily Tribune with these words:

By and by there will ooze out other facts able to convince even John
Bull himself that what he considers military mutiny is in truth a
national revolt.2

India’s historians may go on arguing and differing about the character
of the 1857 revolt but the mass of the Indian people have already
accepted it as the source-spring of our national movement. The hold of
the 1857 heritage on national thought is so great that even Dr R. C.
Majumdar concludes his study with the following words:

The outbreak of 1857 would surely go down in history as the first
great and direct challenge to the British rule in India, on an
extensive scale. As such it inspired the genuine national movement for
the freedom of India from British yoke which started half a century
later. The memory of 1857-58 sustained the later movement, infused
courage into the hearts of its fighters, furnished a historical basis
for the grim struggle, and gave it a moral stimulus, the value of
which it is impossible to exaggerate. The memory of the revolt of
1857, distorted but hallowed with sanctity, perhaps did more damage to
the cause of the British rule in India than the Revolt itself.3

The controversy whether the 1857-58 struggle was a sepoy revolt or a
national uprising can be resolved only by squarely posing and
truthfully analysing the character of the contestants on either side
and the nature of the issues—political, economic and ideological—
involved in this struggle. In short, a sound historical evaluation
demands that who was fighting whom and for what be correctly
stated....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE British conquest of India implied not only the imposition of alien
rule but, something worse still, a pitiless destruction of the
traditional Indian social order itself and disruption of its own
normal development towards a new order. Marx was the only thinker of
the period who studied this tragic phenomenon scientifically and
formulated the role of British imperialism in India in such a correct
manner that his conclusions were borne out by the subsequent
researches of Indian scholarship and they helped Indian patriots to
understand Indian reality better and give a progressive orientation to
Indian national thought.

As early as 1853 when the Indian situation was being debated in the
British Parliament on the occasion of the renewal of the East India
Company’s Charter, Marx stated in an article entitled “British Rule in
India”: All the civil wars, invasions, revolutions, conquests,
famines, strangely complex, rapid and destructive as the successive
action in Hindustan may appear, did not go deeper than its surface.
England has broken down the entire framework of Indian society,
without any symptoms of reconstitution yet appearing. This loss of his
old world, with no gain of a new one, imparts a particular kind of
melancholy to the present misery of the Hindu, and separates Hindustan
ruled by Britain, from all its ancient traditions, and from the whole
of its past history… It was the British intruder who broke up the
Indian handloom and destroyed the spinning wheel…British steam and
science uprooted over the whole surface of Hindustan, the union
between agriculture and manufacturing industry.4 ...

After the conquest of Bengal and eventually throughout India, the
method of enforced and unequal trade was used to loot India and this
led to its economic ruination. R. P. Dutt states how the situation
underwent a qualitative change after the British became the ruling
class in India, how methods of power could be increasingly used to
weight the balance of exchange and secure the maximum goods for the
minimum payment.5

By the end of 18th century and much more clearly by 1813-33, a shift
had come over British policy towards India. After a period of
primitive plunder and the systematic ruination of Indian trades and
crafts, the British bourgeoisie, with the completion of their
Industrial Revolution, began to use India as a dumping ground for its
industrial manufactures and, above all, textiles. Marx noted this
sharp shift, and, in one of his articles during 1853, wrote:

The whole character of trade was changed. Till 1813 India had been
chiefly an exporting country while it now became an importing one; and
in such quick progression, that already, in 1823, the rate of
exchange, which had generally been two-sixth per rupee sunk down to
two per rupee. India, the great workshop of cotton manufacture for the
world, since immemorial times, became now inundated with English
twists and cotton stuffs. After its own produce had been excluded from
England, or only accepted on the most cruel terms, British
manufactures were poured into it at a small or merely nominal duty, to
the ruin of native cotton fabric once so celebrated.6

The policy of the East India Company also annihilated the independent
merchant bourgeoisie as well as the artisans and craftsmen. Prof
Ramkrishna Mukherjee describes the process in the following words:

Along with thus turning the Indian artisans ‘out of this ‘temporal’
world’, as Marx remarked caustically, proceeded the liquidation of the
Indian merchant bourgeoisie. Monopolising Indian products for the
English meant that the Indian merchants could no longer survive. Only
those could maintain their profession who acquiesced in becoming
underlings of the Company or of its servants engaged in private inland
trade in India or of the private English merchants residing in India
for the same purpose. Otherwise, they had to find a new source of
livelihood. Not only were the Indian merchants prohibited from buying
commodities directly from the producers which were monopolised by the
English, but the agents of the Company and its servants forced such
goods on the Indian merchants at a price higher than the prevailing
one.7

By annihilating the independent merchant bourgeoisie, which to some
extent also fulfilled the role of the manufacturing bourgeoisie, the
monopolist East India Company destroyed that very important class in
Indian economy which could be their rival.

Another aspect of this phenomenon is noted and analysed by K. M.
Panikkar in the following words:

With the establishment of European trade centres in the main coastal
areas of India, there had developed a powerful Indian capitalist
class, closely associated with the foreign merchants, and deriving
great profits from trade with them… The Marwari millionaires of Bengal
have become the equivalent of the compradore classes of Shanghai of a
later period …The emergence of this powerful class, whose economic
interests were bound up with those of the foreign merchants and who
had an inherited hatred of Muslim rule, was a factor of fundamental
importance to the history of India and of Asia.8

These Indian agents of the Company and of the British merchants were
called gomasthas and bannias and played the role of sub-agents of
foreign capital and a pro-British role in the 1857 uprising.

How did intelligent Indians react to the above economic situation and
policies?

It is useful to quote Allamah Fazle Haq of Khayrabad, an eminent
Muslim scholar of the traditional school who took a leading part in
the 1857 revolt and was transported for life:

Having seized power they (the British) decided to bring under their
hold the various sections of the people by controlling eatables, by
taking possession of the ears of corn and grain and giving the
peasants and cultivators cash in lieu of their rights of farming.
Their object was not to allow the poor men and villagers a free hand
in buying and selling grains. By giving preference to their own
people, they wanted to control the cheapening or raising of the rates
so that the people of God might submit to their (Christian) policy of
monopoly, and their dependence on them (Christians) for their
requirements might force them to meet the purpose of the Christians
and their supporters, and their desire and ambitions which they had in
their hearts and the mischiefs and evils which they had concealed in
their minds.9

In the above background, the appeal of the manifesto issued by Bahadur
Shah on behalf of the insurgent centre at Delhi had its own
significance. The manifesto appealed in the following words to the
merchants: It is plain that the infidel and treacherous British
Government have monopolised the trade of all the fine and valuable
merchandise such as indigo, cloth and other articles of shipping,
leaving only the trade of trifles to the people and even in this they
are not allowed their shares of the profits, which they secure by
means of customs and stamp fees, etc., in money suits, so that the
people have merely a trade in name. Besides this, the profit of the
traders are taxed with postages, tolls, and subscriptions for schools,
etc. Notwithstanding all these concessions, the merchants are liable
to imprisonment and disgrace at the instance of complaint of a
worthless man. When the Badshahi Government is established all these
aforesaid fraudulent practices shall be dispensed with and the trade
of every article, without exception, both by land and water shall be
opened to the native merchants of India who will have the benefit of
the Government steam-vessels and steam carriages for the conveyance of
their merchandise gratis; and merchants having no capital of their own
shall be assisted from the public treasury. It is, therefore, the duty
of every merchant to take part in the war, and aid the Badshahi
Government with its men and money, either secretly or openly, as may
be consistent with its position or interest and forswear its
allegiance to the British Government.10...

The economic and political operation of the East India Company in
India led to a systematic squeezing of our national wealth which has
been described by India’s economic historians as the economic drain.
Let us examine this as it existed on the eve of the 1857 revolt.

There was the so-called Indian Debt, which was incurred by the Company
in order to consolidate its position in India and to spread its
influence further through expeditions and wars, and at the same time,
paying high dividends to share-holders in England, tributes to the
British Government since 1769 and bribes to the influential persons in
England.11

R. C. Dutt makes the following comments as regards the genesis and
mechanism of this Indian Debt:

A very popular error prevails in this country (England in 1903) that
the whole Indian Debt represents British capital sunk in the
development of India. It is shown in the body of this volume that this
is not the genesis of the Public Debt of India. When the East India
Company cessed to be the rulers of India in 1858, they had piled up an
Indian Debt of 70 millions. They had in the meantime drawn a tribute
from India, financially an unjust tribute, exceeding 150 million, not
calculating interest. They had also charged India with the cost of
Afghan wars, Chinese wars and other wars outside India. Equitably,
therefore, India owed nothing at the close of the Company’s rule; her
Public Debt was a myth; there was a considerable balance of over 108
millions in her favour out of the money that had been drawn from her.
12

Montgomery Martin, an Englishman with sympathy for the Indian people,
wrote as early as 1838:

This annual drain of £ 3,000,000 on British India amounted in 30 years
at 12 per cent (the usual Indian rate) compound interest to the
enormous sum of £ 723,997,917 sterling; or, at a low rate, as $
2,000,000 for 50 years, to £ 8,400,000,000 sterling! So constant and
accumulating a drain even on England would have soon impoverished her;
how severe then must be its effect on India, where the wages of a
labourer is from 2d. to 3d. a day?13....

Prof Ramkrishna Mukherjee goes even further and states:

A total picture of this tribute from India is seen to be even greater
than the figure mentioned by Martin in 1838. During the 24 years of
the last phase of the Company’s rule, from 1834-35 to 1857-58, even
though the years 1855, ’56 and ’57 showed a total import-surplus of £
6,436,345—(not because the foreign rulers had changed their policy,
but because some British capital flowed into India to build railway in
order to prepare her for exploitation by British industrial capital),—
the total tribute which was drained from India in the form of ‘home
charges’ and ‘excess of Indian exports’ amounted to the colossal
figure of £ 151,830,989. This works out at a yearly average of £
6,325,875, or roughly half the annual land revenue collections in this
period!14

The above was the grim reality, grimmer than any ever witnessed in the
whole course of India’s age-old historic development. As Marx stated,
there cannot, however, remain any doubt but the misery inflicted by
the British on Hindustan is of essentially different and infinitely
more intensive kind than Hindustan had to suffer before.15

The British, under the East India Company’s rule disrupted the whole
economic order of India, they turned the traditional land system topsy
turvy, they smashed the trades and manufactures of the land and
disrupted the relationship between these two sectors of the Indian
economy, systematically drained the wealth of our country to their
own, and destroyed the very springs of production of our economy.
Every class of Indian society suffered at this new spoliator’s hands.
The landlords were dispossessed and the peasants rendered paupers, the
merchant bourgeoisie of India liquidated as an independent class and
the artisans and craftsmen deprived of their productive professions.
Such unprecedented destruction of a whole economic order and of every
class within it could not but produce a great social upheaval and that
was the national uprising of 1857. The all-destructive British policy
produced a broad popular rebellion against its rule.

Within Indian society, however, those productive forces and classes
had not yet grown (in fact early British policy had itself destroyed
their first off-shoots) that could lead this revolution to victory.
The revolt of 1857 as also its failure were both historical
inevitabilities. But it also was a historical necessity, for after it
followed those modern developments..., from which emerged the modern
national liberation movement of the Indian people and those new social
forces which led it to victory.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE religious factor played a big part in the revolt in 1857. The
British statesmen and chroniclers exaggerated and deliberately
misinterpreted the role played by this factor to prove their thesis
that the 1857 uprising was reactionary, revivalist and directed
against the progressive reforms that they were introducing in Indian
society. The early generation of English-educated Indian intellectuals
swallowed this imperialist thesis uncritically because they themselves
had suffered under the old reactionary religious influences. A true
historical outlook demands that we do not forget the historical stage
which Indian society had reached on the eve of 1857, the ideological
values which would be normal to this society and the ideological forms
in which the Indian people could formulate their aspirations....

It is abundantly clear... that the British rulers purely for their
imperialist motives were out for some decades preceding 1857 to
culturally denationalise India by the method of mass conversion to
Christianity. This was seen as a menacing danger by the mass of
Indians, irrespective of their viewpoint whether it was Sir Syed Ahmad
Khan or Bahadur Shah, whether it was the enlightened Bengali
intellectual in Calcutta or the Nana Saheb at Bithoor, by the mass of
sepoys both Hindu and Muslim. Thus when the religious factor played a
big role as it did in the struggle of 1857, it was as a part of the
national factor. The mass of Indians took up arms to defend their own
religions and they were fighting not only in defence of their religion
but to defend their way of life and their nationhood. Of course, there
were several reactionary features within Indian society but then the
only healthy way to change them was through the struggle of the Indian
people themselves.

This is not all. Our rebel ancestors used religion to advance the
revolutionary struggle. They did not let religion stupefy them. But
they used religion to get the strength to fight the Firinghis.

A proclamation was issued at Delhi with royal permission urging upon
the Hindus and Muslims to unite in the struggle in the name of their
respective religions.

To all Hindus and Mussalmans, citizens and servants of Hindustan,
officers of the army now at Delhi and at Meerut send greetings:—it is
well known that in these days all the English have entertained these
evil designs—first, to destroy the religion of the whole Hindustani
army and then to make the people by compulsion Christians. Therefore,
we, solely on account of our religion, have combined with the people
and have not spared alive one infidel, and have re-established the
Delhi dynasty on these terms. Hundreds of guns and a large amount of
treasure have fallen into our hands; therefore, it is fitting that
whoever of the soldiers and people dislike turning Christians should
unite with one heart, and, acting courageously, not leave the seed of
these infidels remaining.16

When the struggle in Oudh after the fall of Lucknow was on the
downgrade, and insurgents were heroically fighting defensive and
mostly losing battles, the captured sepoys used to be asked by the
British why they had joined the revolt. Their answer used to be:

The slaughter of the English is required by our religion. The end will
be the destruction of the English and all the sepoys—and then, God
knows!17

The Rajah of the Gond tribes was living as a pensioner of the British
at Nagpur. He had turned a traditional Sanskrit sthotra recited in
worshipping the devi into an anti-British hymn. The London Times of
October 31, 1857 gives the translation of the prayer: Shut the mouth
of the slanderers and Eat up backbiters, trample down the sinners,
You, “Satrusamgharika” (name of Devi, ‘destroyer of enemy’) Kill the
British, exterminate them, Matchundee. Let not the enemy escape, not
the wives and children Of such oh! Samgharika Show favour to Shanker;
support your slaves; Listen to the cry of religion. “Mathalka” eat up
the unclean, Make no delay, Now devour them, And that quickly, Ghor-
Mathalka.

During the siege of Delhi, British agents repeatedly tried to
transform the joint Hindu- Muslim struggle into a fratricidal Hindu-
Muslim civil war. Even as early as May 1857, British agents began
inciting the Muslims against the Hindus in the name of jihad and the
matter was brought before Bahadur Shah.

The king answered that such a jihad was quite impossible, and that
such an idea an act of extreme folly, for the majority of the Purbeah
soldiers were Hindus. Moreover, such an act could create internecine
war, and the result would be deplorable. It was fitting that sympathy
should exist among all classes… A deputation of Hindu officers arrived
to complain of the war against Hindus being preached. The king
replied: ‘The holy war is against the English; I have forbidden it
against the Hindus.’18

Thus did our rebel ancestors use religion to organise and conduct a
united revolutionary struggle against foreign domination. In the
historic conditon of 1857, the ideological form of the struggle could
not but assume religious forms. To expect anything else would be
unrealistic and unscientific.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE British text books on Indian history contained only the story of
the “atrocities of the mutineers,”—dishonouring of women, killing of
children and so on. The reality, however, was the opposite. Again, the
early generation of educated Indians like Savarkar and others began
exposing from British sources themselves the story of unprecedented
British atrocities against the Indian people. During the non-
cooperation movement of the twenties, the British terror during 1857
was related to Jallianwallabagh to rouse the people to struggle more
valiantly and unitedly than our ancestors had done during 1857.
Thereafter came Edward Thompson’s The Other Side of the Medal which
tried to put across the thesis that there were atrocities on both
sides which are best forgotten.

The question of questions is: can the two sides be put on the same
plane? Can the crimes committed by the enslavers of the people be
equated with some mistakes and excesses committed by the fighters for
freedom? The two cases are different....

If tales of Indian “terror” are largely mythical, British brutality
got even Lord Canning worried. On December 24, 1857, the following
Minute appears in the proceedings of the Governor-General-in-Council:

…the indiscriminate hanging, not only of persons of all shades of
guilt, but of those whose guilt was at the least very doubtful, and
the general burning and plunder of villages, whereby the innocent as
well as the guilty, without regard to age or sex, were
indiscriminately punished, and in some cases, sacrificed, had deeply
exasperated large communities not otherwise hostile to the government;
that the cessation of agriculture and consequent famine were
impending; …And lastly, that the proceedings of the officers of the
Government had given colour to the rumour…that the Government
meditated a general bloody persecution of Mohammedans and Hindus.19...

In the History of the Siege of Delhi, written by an officer who served
on active service, it is graphically described what the British
officers did on the way from Ambala to Delhi.

Hundreds of Indians were condemned to be hanged before a court-martial
in a short time, and they were most brutally and inhumanly tortured,
while scaffolds were being erected for them. The hair on their heads
were pulled by bunches, their bodies were pierced by bayonets and then
they were made to do that to avoid which they would think nothing of
death or torture—cows’ flesh was forced by spears and bayonets into
the mouth of the poor and harmless Hindu villagers.20

How the sepoy and the civilian, the guilty and the innocent alike were
butchered by the British victors after the capture of Lucknow is
described below by one of them:

at the time of the capture of Lucknow—a season of indiscriminate
massacre—such distinction was not made and the unfortunate who fell
into the hands of our troops was made short work of—sepoy or Qudh
villager it mattered not—no questions were asked; his skin was black,
and did not that suffice? A piece of rope and the branch of a tree or
a rifle bullet through his brain soon terminated the poor devil’s
existence.21

What happened in the countryside, between Banaras, Allahabad and
Kanpur during General Neill’s march through the area is described by
Kaye and Malleson in the following words:

Volunteer hanging parties went out into the districts and amateur
executioners were not wanting to the occasion. One gentleman boasted
of the numbers he had finished off quite ‘in an artistic manner’, with
mango trees for gibbets and elephants as drops, the victims of this
wild justice being strung up, as though for past-time in ‘the form of
a figure of 8’.22...

Pandit Nehru has rightly stated the problem of race mania as it faced
our insurgent ancestors and faced us subsequently in the whole course
of our struggle for freedom.

We in India have known racialism in all its forms ever since the
commencement of British rule. The whole ideology of this rule was that
of the Herrenvolk and the master race, and the structure of Government
was based upon it; indeed the idea of a master race is inherent in
imperialism. There was no subterfuge about it; it was proclaimed in
unambiguous language by those in authority. More powerful than words
was the practice that accompanied them, and generation after
generation and year after year, India as a nation and Indians as
individuals were subjected to insult, humiliation, and contemptuous
treatment.23...

Our forefathers suffered and bled during 1857. Subsequent generations
kept up the struggle and went on making the needed sacrifice. If after
independence we forget our past experience and began to consider
British imperialism as our new friend instead of our traditional foe,
we will not be able to safeguard Indian independence nor discharge
India’s duty towards the struggling colonial peoples in Asia and
Africa...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN the broad historical perspective of India’s struggle against
British domination what needs being stressed is not the limitation and
narrowness of the 1857 uprising but its sweep, breadth and depth. The
1857 uprising stands sharply demarcated from all the earlier anti-
British wars of resistance fought on Indian soil.

The first is the sheer vastness of the area covered by the 1857
uprising and the still wider sympathy and solidarity it commanded. It
is admitted by all historians and chronicles, British and Indian
alike, that the 1857 national insurrection was the biggest ever anti-
British combine that had so far been massed in armed struggle against
British authority in India.

The second is the qualitative difference between this and all other
anti-British wars. In the earlier wars people of a single kingdom,
which very often coincided with a specific nationality, fought single-
handed. For example, the Bengalis alone fought at Plassey. The same in
the Karnatak and the Mysore and the Maratha, the Sikh and the Sind
wars. Earlier attempts at broader combinations had failed. But during
1857 people of various castes, tribes, nationalities, religions, who
had lived under different kingdoms rose together to end the British
rule. It was an unprecedented unity of the Indian people. Marx, the
most far-sighted thinker of the age, duly noted this new phenomenon.

Before this there had been mutinies in the Indian army but the present
revolt is distinguished by characteristic and fatal features. It is
the first time that the sepoy regiments have murdered their European
officers; that Musalmans and Hindus, renouncing their mutual
antipathies, have combined against the common masters; that
‘disturbances, beginning with the Hindus, have actually ended in
placing on the throne of Delhi a Mohammedan Emperor’; that the mutiny
has not been confined to a few localities.24

As it is important to stress the above positive aspect of the 1857
national uprising, it is equally important to state its negative
aspect and state which decisive areas and sections of the Indian
people did not join the national uprising and how some were even led
to supporting the British side. There were several factors involved
but let us examine the main, the national factor. The Gurkhas and the
Sikhs played a decisive role on the side of the British. The Nepal war
had been fought by the British with the help of the Hindustani Army.
Rana Jung Bahadur, who was centralising Nepal under Ranashahi, was
promised by the British a permanent subsidy and large tracts in Terai
and he brought his Gurkha soldiers down, in the name of revenge, for
subduing Oudh.

The Sikhs had their own historic memories against the Moghuls and
after initial hesitation the British were able to recruit the
unemployed soldiers of the Khalsa Army and the retainers of the Sikh
princes and sardars.

From the Marathas the heir of the Peshwas had risen in revolt but the
Maratha princes had their own rivalries and historic feuds both with
the Nizam in the South and the Moghuls in the North.

The Rajputana princes had their own historic memories of earlier
Moghul and later Maratha domination, besides their being under British
grip now.

These historic memories from the past of our feudal disunity kept the
people of large parts of the country paralysed and moved by their
feudal self-interest the Indian princes helped the British usurpers.
Nehru has put the whole position in very succinct words:

The revolt strained British rule to the utmost and it was ultimately
suppressed with Indian help.25

As it is true that the 1857 revolution was the biggest national
uprising against British rule, so it is equally true that the British
were able to suppress it by using Indians against indians. Divide and
rule was the traditional British policy and they used it with
devastating effect during 1857....

The peasant was anti-British but his outlook was confined within his
village, his political knowledge did not go beyond the affairs of the
kingdom in which he lived under his traditional Raja.

The political-ideological leadership of the country was yet in the
hands of the feudal ruling classes. They shared the general anti-
British sentiment but they feared their feudal rivals more. They were
a decaying class and their historic memories were only of the feudal
past of disunity and civil wars and the vision of a united independent
India could not dawn upon them.

Love of the country in those days meant love of one’s own homeland
ruled by one’s traditional ruler. The conception of India as our
common country had not yet emerged. Not only did the feudal historic
memories come in the way but the material foundations for it, the
railways, telegraph, a uniform system of modern education, etc., had
not yet been laid but had only begun.

The conception of India as common motherland grew later and the great
experience of 1857 rising helped it to grow. The London Times duly
noted the rise of this new phenomenon.

One of the great results that have flowed from the rebellion of
1857-58 has been to make inhabitants of every part of India acquainted
with each other. We have seen the tide of war rolling from Nepal to
the borders of Gujarat, from the deserts of Rajputana to the frontiers
of the Nizam’s territories, the same men over-running the whole land
of India and giving to their resistance, as it were, a national
character. The paltry interests of isolated States, the ignorance
which men of one petty principality have laboured under in considering
the habits and customs of the other principality—all this has
disappeared to make way for a more uniform appreciation of public
events throughout India. We may assume that in the rebellion of 1857,
no national spirit was roused, but we cannot deny that our efforts to
put it down have sown the seeds of a new plant and thus laid the
foundation for more energetic attempts on the part of the people in
the course of future years.26


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT was the aim of the insurgents, what sort of a political and
social order did they seek to establish in India? A sound
characterisation of the 1857 struggle depends upon the correct answer
to the above problem. For it will help to decide whether it was
reactionary or progressive.

It is amazing that there is virtual agreement on this question between
not only British and some eminent Indian historians but also some
foremost Indian political leaders.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has stated his opinion thus: Essentially it
was a feudal outburst, headed by feudal chiefs and their followers and
aided by the widespread anti-British sentiment… Not by fighting for a
lost cause, the feudal order, would freedom come.27

Dr Majumdar’s conclusion is: The miseries and bloodshed of 1857-58
were not the birthpangs of a freedom movement in India, but the dying
groans of an obsolete aristocracy and centrifugal feudalism of the
medieval age.28

Dr Sen, the official historian, improves upon and carries forward the
Prime Minister’s characterisation:

The English Government had imperceptibly effected a social revolution.
They had removed some of the disabilities of women, they had tried to
establish the equality of men in the eye of the law, they had
attempted to improve the lot of the peasant and the serf. The Mutiny
leaders would have set the clock back, they would have done away with
the new reforms, with the new order, and gone back to the good old
days when a commoner could not expect equal justice with the noble,
when the tenants were at the mercy of the talukdars, and when theft
was punished with mutilation. In short they wanted a counter-
revolution.29...

One can understand British statesmen and historians advancing the
thesis of the Old Man vs. the New, of their own role being progressive
and the insurgent cause reactionary, in sheer self-defence. But when
Indian leaders and historians repeat the same old British thesis the
least one can say is that they are mistaking the form for the
substance. It is true that the 1857 uprising was led by Indian feudals
(but not them alone!) and they were not the makers of events, nor sole
masters of India’s destiny. There were other social forces of the
common people in action during this struggle and they had brought new
factors and ideas into play. It is a pity Drs Majumdar and Sen and
Pandit Nehru have given no thought nor weight to them. If we study
them carefully and seriously, the conclusion is inescapable that
during the 1857 national uprising, the popular forces were active
enough, healthy in their aspirations and clear-headed enough in their
ideas to prevent a reactionary feudal restoration in India.

One of the great positive achievements of the 1857 uprising acclaimed
with justified pride by the Indian national movement has been the
noble attempt to forge, and sustained efforts to maintain, against
British machinations, Hindu-Muslim unity for the successful conduct of
the struggle.

Playing upon Hindu-Muslim differences had become so much a part of the
flesh and blood of the British representatives in India that Lord
Canning spontaneously began thinking, when the first signs of the
storm burst during May 1857, whether the Hindus or Muslims were behind
it? Kaye states the problem and the significance of the new situation
facing the British rulers: But, before the end of the month of April,
it must have been apparent to Lord Canning, that nothing was to be
hoped from that antagonism of Asiatic races which had even been
regarded as the main element of our strength and safety. Mohammedans
and Hindus were plainly united against us.30

The British officials, however, did not give up but persisted in the
policy of stirring Hindu- Muslim dissensions. “I shall watch for the
differences of feelings between the two communities,” wrote Sir Henry
Lawrence from Lucknow to Lord Canning in May 1857. The communal
antipathy, however, failed to develop; Aitchison ruefully admits:

In this instance, we could not play off the Mohammedaa against the
Hindu.31

The insurgent leaders were fully aware of this disruptive British
tactic. Allamah Fazle Haq, himself a Muslim revivalist, wrote: They
(the British) tried their utmost to break the revolutionary forces by
their tricks and deceptive devices, make ineffective the power of the
Mujahids and uproot them, and scatter and disrupt them…. No stone was
left unturned by them in this respect.32

The insurgent leaders consciously laid great stress on Hindu-Muslim
unity for the success of the struggle. Bahadur Shah, the sepoy
leaders, the learned Ulema and Shastris issued proclamations and
fatwas stressing that Hindu-Muslim unity was the call of the hour and
the duty of all. In all areas liberated from British rule the first
thing the insurgent leaders did was to ban cow-slaughter and enforce
it. In the highest political and military organ of insurgent
leadership Hindus and Muslims were represented in equal numbers.33
When Bahadur Shah found that he could not manage the affairs of state,
he wrote to the Hindu Rajas of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Alwar that if
they would combine for the purpose (of annihilating the British) he
would willingly resign the Imperial power into their hands.34

An insurgent Sikh regiment in Delhi served under a Muslim commander.35
Such instances can be multiplied....

There is another very important aspect of this problem. Hindu-Muslim
unity was one of the important keys in deciding the fate of the issue.
The British side knew it and tried their hardest and best to disrupt
it. The Indian side also knew it and did their utmost to realise and
maintain it. But this by itself would be a static statement of the
problem. The better Hindu-Muslim unity was forged in the insurgent
camp, the longer the struggle could last; the longer the struggle
lasted, the more chances the popular forces got to come to the fore
and the more the ideological-political influence of feudal forces
became weakened; the more the feudal forces weakened the less chances
were left of a feudal restoration. Such is the dialectics of all
popular and national struggles. During the last phase of the struggle
in 1857-58, the feudal forces stood thoroughly exposed and weakened.
The popular forces were not yet powerful, conscious and organised
enough to overwhelm them and carry on the struggle to victory. What
actually took place was British victory and not feudal restoration.
When the modern national movement began in the next generation, the
glorious heritage of Hindu-Muslim unity was taken over from the 1857
struggle and the next two generations gave a more and more democratic
programme to the conception of Hindu-Muslim united front against
British domination.

The British side also learnt its lesson from this historic phenomenon.
Forrest in his Introduction to State Papers, 1857-58, states:

Among the many lessons the Indian Mutiny conveys to the historian,
none is of greater importance than the warning that it is possible to
have a revolution in which Brahmins and Sudras, Hindus and Mohammedans
could be united against us, and that it is not safe to suppose that
the peace and stability of our dominions, in any great measure,
depends on the continent being inhabited by different religious
systems…. The mutiny reminds us that our dominions rest on a thin
crust ever likely to be rent by titanic forces of social changes and
religious revolutions.36...

Inside the disintegrating feudal order that was India of those days,
new currents of democratic thought and practice were arising; they
were not yet powerful enough to break the old feudal ideological bonds
and overwhelm British authority; they were menacing enough to make the
real Indian feudals seek a new lease of life as a gift from the
British after beseeching due forgiveness for having joined the
insurgent cause.

The destruction of the ancient land system in India and the law on the
alienation of land stirred the whole countryside into action against
the government whose policies had made the old rural classes, from the
zamindars to the peasants, lose their lands to the new section of
merchants, moneylenders and the Company’s own officials, and which had
played havoc with the their life. The large-scale peasant
participation in the 1857 uprising gave it a solid mass basis and the
character of a popular revolt. The Indian peasants fulfilled their
patriotic duty during 1857.

Peasants joined as volunteers with the insurgent forces and, though
without military training, fought so heroically and well as to draw
tributes from the British themselves... At the battle of Miaganj,
between Lucknow and Kanpur, the British had to face an Indian
insurgent forces of 8000, of whom not more than a thousand were sepoys.
37 At Sultanpur, another battle was fought by the insurgents with
25,000 soldiers, 1,100 cavalry and 25 guns and of these only five
thousand were rebel sepoys!38 After the fall of Delhi, the British
concentrated upon Lucknow. As the British massed all their strength
against Lucknow so from the villagers of Oudh came armed, peasant
volunteers for the last ditch defence of their capital city. In the
words of Charles Ball, The whole country was swarming with armed
vagabonds hastening to Lucknow to meet their common doom and die in
the last grand struggle with the Firangis.39

After the fall of Bareilly and Lucknow, the insurgents fought on and
adopted guerilla tactics. Its pattern is contained in Khan Bahadur
Khan‘s General Order:

Do not attempt to meet the regular columns of the infidels because
they are superior to you in discipline, bandobast and have big guns
but watch their movements, guard all the ghats on the rivers,
intercept their communications, stop their supplies, cut their dak and
posts and keep constantly hanging about their camps, give them (the
Firinghis) no rest!40

Commenting on the above, Russell wrote in his Diary:

This general order bears marks of sagacity and points out the most
formidable war we would encounter.41

The heavy responsibility for carrying into practice the above line of
action and aiding the scattered insurgent forces to prolong the anti-
British war of resistance fell on the mass of the peasantry. All
contemporary British chronicles of the story of this war in
Rohilkhand, Bundelkhand, Oudh and Bihar contain numerous stories of
how the Indian peasantry loyally and devotedly carried out the behests
of the insurgent high command. Let us take only one example:

Even when the cause of the mutincers seemed to be failing, they
testified no good will, but withheld the information we wanted and
often misled us.42

In a national uprising that has failed, the role and contribution of
any class can best be estimated by the amount of sacrifice it makes.
Measured in these terms, the peasantry is at the top of the roll of
honour of the 1857 uprising. Holmes states:

The number of armed men, who succumbed in Oudh, was about 150,000, of
whom at least 35,000 were sepoys.43 ...

The rural population as a whole rose against the new land system
imposed over their heads by the British rulers. Secondly, that the
pattern of struggle was to eliminate the new landlords created under
the British regime, destroy their records, hound them out of villages
and seize their lands and attack all the symbols of British authority
especially the kutchery (law-court), the tehsil (revenue office) and
the thana (the police outpost). Thirdly, the base of the struggle was
the mass of the peasantry and the rural poor while the leadership was
in the hands of the landlords dispossessed under the British laws.
Fourthly, this pattern of struggle fitted into the general pattern of
the 1857 national uprising, the class struggle in the countryside was
directed not against the landlords as a whole but only against a
section of them, those who had been newly created by the British under
their laws and acted as their loyal political supporters, that is, it
was subordinated to the broad need of national unity against the
foreign usurper.

Talmiz Khaldun’s thesis that during this uprising “The Indian
peasantry was fighting desperately to free itself of foreign as well
as feudal bondage” and that “the mutiny ended as a peasant war against
indigenous landlordism and foreign imperialism” is thus an
exaggeration. There is no evidence whatsoever that the Indian
peasantry during this struggle decisively burst through the feudal
bonds either politically or economically to transform a broad-based
national uprising into a peasant war. On the other hand all the
evidence that is known is to the contrary....

The Indian peasants made a compromise with the traditional landlords
in the interests of the common struggle but the landlords became
terrified by this alliance when they saw it in the living form of a
revolutionary popular struggle. Gubbins, who had wide personal
experience of Oudh and other Eastern districts, states:

Much allowance should, no doubt, be made in considering the conduct of
the Indian gentry at this crisis, on account of their want of power to
resist the armed and organised enemy which had suddenly risen against
us. The enemy always treated with the utmost severity those among
their countrymen who were esteemed to be friends of the British cause.
Neither their lives nor their property were safe. Fear, therefore, no
doubt entered largely into the natives which induced many to desert us.
44

Narrow class interest and fear of the “armed and organised” masses,
whom the British rightly called “the enemy,” ultimately led the Indian
feudal gentry to desert the revolutionary struggle and seek terms with
the foreign rulers. The situation led to feudal treachery and
suppressoin of the national uprising, and not to the strengthening of
feudalism in the minds and the later movement of the Indian peasantry
and the people.

Dr R.C. Majumdar himself quotes the Supreme Government “Narrative of
Events” issued on September 12, 1857:

In consequence of the general nature of the rebellion and the
impossibility of identifying the majority of the rebels, the
Magistrate recommended the wholesale burning and destruction of all
villages proved to have sent men to take active part in the rebellion.
45

This is how the British understood the peasant contribution to the
1857 uprising. Could there be a restoration for the feudal order in
India on the shoulders of such a peasantry?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 1857 uprising is a historic landmark. It marks the end of a whole
historic phase and the beginning of a new one. On the British side it
finished the Company’s rule and led to direct government under the
British Crown. The period of rule of the merchant monopolists of the
East India Company ended and the dominance of the industrial
bourgeoisie of Britain in the affairs of India began. On the Indian
side, the revolt failed but the Indian people got that experience
which enabled them to build the modern Indian national movement on new
foundations and with new ideas, and the lessons of 1857 proved
inestimable. Both sides drew and applied their lessons from the 1857
experience in the subsequent period. The British were the victors,
they went into action soon; we were the vanquished, we took longer.

From their experience of the 1857 uprising the British rulers sharply
changed their policy towards the Indian feudal elements, and
discarding the old policy of attacking their interests, they adopted a
new policy of reconciling them as the main social base of their rule
in India. The Indian people from their experience of the Indian
feudals drew the lesson for the next phase of their movement that
their anti-British struggle to be successful must also be an anti-
feudal struggle. Those who were so far regarded by the Indian people
as their traditional leaders were now rightly considered as betrayers
of the 1857 uprising and the Indian puppets of the British power.

As regards the Indian princess, the policy of annexations was given
up. Queen Victoria in her Proclamation promised them:

We shall respect the rights, dignity and honour of native pricess as
our own. Very candidly Lord Canning in his Minute of April 30 noted:
The safety of our rule is increased and not diminished by the
maintenance of native chiefs well affected to us.

How the Indian national movement understood the post-1857 British
policy towards the princes is best reflected in Nehru’s Discovery of
India where he states that the retention of the native states was
designed to disrupt the unity of India,46 Indian princes playing the
role of Britain’s fifth column in India.47....

The Army was reorganised after the sepoy mutiny, which had set the
country aflame. The proportion of British troops was increased and
they were primarily used as an “army of occupation” to maintain
internal security while the Indian troops were organised and trained
for service abroad to subjugate Asian and African territories for
British imperialism. The artillery was taken away from the Indian
hands. All higher appointments were reserved for the British, an
Indian could not even get the King’s Commission nor get employment in
the Army headquarters except as a clerk in non-military work. The
Indian regiments were reorganised on the principle of divide and rule
and recruitment confined to the so-called martial races.

But in the long run nothing availed the British. The memory of the
sepoys’ role during 1857 never died not only in the memory of the
Indian people but also of the Indian armed forces. As the modern
national movement grew, it could not leave the Indian Army, however
“reorganised”, untouched. During the 1930 national struggle, the
Garhwali soldiers refused to fire at the Indian demonstrators at
Peshawar. During the post-war national upsurge after a series of
“mutinies” in the Indian Army and Air Force, the Royal Indian Navy
revolted on February 18, 1946 and the next day the British Prime
Minister announced the dispatch of the Cabinet Mission to India and
negotiations for the independence of India began.

The Indian administrative machine was reorganised as a colossal
bureaucratic machine with Indians employed only in subordinate
positions, all real power and responsibility resting in British hands.
The Queen’s Proclamation had promised that there would be no racial
discrimination against the Indians in employment in government
services. The reality, however, was different...

After 1857, politically, even Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had suggested that
Indians should be included in the Legislative Council to keep the
government in touch, with the people. In 1861 the Indian Councils Act
provided for the inclusion for legislative purposes of non-official
members. In 1862, three Indians were so nominated. These legislatures,
in which real power remained with the exclusive British Executive,
were used by patriotic Indian statesmen as tribunes of the Indian
people and to unmask British policies and thus aid the growth of the
national movement. The British tactic of divide and rule, however,
succeeded in another way. The institution of separate electorates for
the Muslims was the first expression of the poisonous two-nation
theory which ultimately resulted in the partition of the country at
the very time of gaining independence.

The British Government, which claimed credit for early social reform
measures like banning of sati, widow remarriage, etc., after the
experience of 1857 and its subsequent alliance with the Indian feudal
reaction became the opponent of all progressive social measures.

Hindu law was largely custom and as customs change, the law also was
applied in a different way. Indeed there was no provision of Hindu Law
which could not be changed by customs. The British replaced this
elastic customary law by judicial decisions based on the old texts and
these decisions became precedents which had to be rigidly followed…
Change could only come by positive legislation but the British
Government, which was the legislating authority, had no wish to
antagonise the conservative elements on whose support it counted. When
later some legislative powers were given to the partially elected
assemblies, every attempt to promote social reform legislation was
frowned upon by the authorities and sternly discouraged.48

The British Government thus became the defender of social reaction in
India, after 1857!

The British overlords had created an English educated Indian middle-
class to get cheap and efficient and denationalised Indian cadres for
the lower essential rungs of their administration.

Educated natives took no part in the sepoy mutiny: despite the charges
to the contrary, they heartily disapproved of the revolt and showed
themselves faithful and loyal to the British authorities throughout
the course of that crisis.49

The above is not wholly true. Dr Sen states: Even this small minority
(of modern educated Indians) were not unanimous in the support of the
Government. An educated Hindu of Bengal complained of ‘a hundred years
of unmitigated active tyranny unrelieved by any trait of generosity’.

“A century and more of intercourse between each other,” he adds, “has
not made the Hindus and the Englishman friends or even peaceful fellow
subjects.”50

Calcutta was the biggest centre of these modern educated Indians. They
were at the time themselves concentrating upon the struggle against
Hindu orthodoxy and the religious terms in which the cause of the
insurgents was clothed repelled them. Because of their historic origin
and the limitations of their political experience they wrongly
identified progress with British rule. They were not, however,
“faithful and loyal” in the sense Earl Granville imagined them to be,
servile to the British rulers. This was proved in the very next year
after the 1857-58 uprising was suppressed when the Bengali
intelligentsia stirred the whole of Bengal in solidarity with the
Indigo Revolt, with the peasants of Bengal and Bihar who were victims
of unimaginable oppression and exploitation of the British planters.
Again it was Surendranath Banerji who took the initiative to run an
all-India campaign against lowering the age for the ICS, which
patently went against the Indian candidates. Then came the campaigns
regarding the IIbert Bill and racial discrimination in courts and the
Vernacular Press Act and so on. As the new intelligentsia saw more and
more of India under the British Crown all their illusions about Queen
Victoria’s 1858 Proclamation being the Magna Carta of Indian liberties
gradually evaporated and they began to agitate for political reforms.
In 1882 the Grand Old Man of Indian nationalism, Dababhai Naoroji,
wrote: Hindus, Mohammedans and Parsees alike are asking whether the
British rule is to be a blessing or a curse...This is no longer a
secret, or a state of things not quite open to those of our rulers who
would see.51...

Even before 1857, From India a policy of imperial expansion was
planned and the British Government of India was set on the perilous
road of conquest and annexation in the East for the benefit of
Britain, but of course at the cost of the Indian tax-payer.52

Thus Malacca and Singapore were occupied, Burma conquered, Nepal and
Afghan wars conducted and the Persian war managed.

The age of the Empire, based on India, began after 1857. India now
became in fact no less than in name a British possession. The Indian
Empire was at this time a continental order, a political structure
based on India, and extending its authority from Aden to Hongkong.53

In this period, Afghanistan and Persia were made virtual British
protectorates, expeditions and missions were sent to Sinkiang and
Tibet in the North and the British position in South-East Asia and
China consolidated.

“The continental involved a subordinate participation of India”54 as
policemen, traders and usurers, and coolies in the plantations of
Britain’s growing colonies. Indian resources and manpower were thus
used not only to conquer but maintain and run Britain’s colonial
Empire.

This, however, was only one side of the picture. As part of winning
foreign support for the Indian uprising Azimullah Khan, Nana’s
representative, is reported to have built contacts with Russia and
Turkey. Rango Bapuji, the Satara representative, is also reported to
have worked with Azimullah. Bahadur Shah’s court claimed Persian
support. All this was in the old principle that Britain’s enemies are
our friends. But Britain was the colossus of that period, and the
feudal ruling circles of these countries could never be in any hurry
to come to the aid of the Indian revolt. They could at best exploit it
and await its outcome.

This was, however, not the attitude of democratic circles in these and
other countries... there was in all democratic circles of the
civilised world great sympathy for the Indian uprising. Great and
historic is the significance of the Chartist leaders’ solidarity with
the Indian national uprising. Modern British labour movement dates its
birth from the Chartists. Modern Indian national movement dates its
birth from the 1857 uprising. What a new fraternal vision emerges from
the memory that the British proletariat and the Indian people have
stood together ever since the beginning of their respective movements.
The Chinese date the birth of their modern anti-imperialist national
movement from the Taiping uprising as we date ours from the 1857
uprising. The Chinese paper (presented at the symposium on the
centenary of the 1857 Revolt) documents the hitherto unknown story
that the Chinese people responded sympathetically to the 1857 uprising
and the Indian sepoys deserted to the Taipings and fought shoulder to
shoulder with them against the common enemy. Marx noted the new
phenomenon that the revolt in the Anglo-Indian army has coincided with
a general disaffection exhibited against supremacy by the Great
Asiatic nations, the revolt of the Bengal Army being, beyond doubt,
intimately connected with the Persian and Chinese wars.55

Thus the great national uprising of 1857 laid the foundation for the
worldwide democratic solidarity with the Indian struggle in its next
phase and our new national movement built itself on healthy
internationalist traditions. For example, in the twenties, the Indian
national movement vigorously opposed the imperialist policies in the
Middle East and expressed solidarity with the Egyptian struggle under
Zaglul Pasha, in the thirties it expressed practical solidarity with
the Chinese people’s struggle against the Japanese invaders and the
worldwide anti-fascist movement and so on. It was thus no accident
that after the achievement of independence India emerged as a great
world power championing the cause of world peace and the liberation of
all subject nations....n

[*NOTES

1. Major B.D. Basn, Rise of The Christian Power in India, (1931), p.
953.

2. Marx, unsigned article, “The Indian Question”, New York Daily
Tribune, August 14, 1857.

3. Quoted by R.C. Majumdar, The Sepoy Mutiny and Revolt of 1857, p.
278.

4. Marx, “The British Rule in India”, New York Daily Tribune, June 25,
1853.

5. R.P. Dutt, India Today, p. 98.

6. Marx, “The East India Company—Its History and Results”, New York
Daily Tribune, July 11, 1853.

7. Ramkrishna Mukherjee, The Rise and Fall of the East India Company,
p. 174.

8. K.M. Panikkar, Asia and Western Dominance, p. 99.

9. Allamah Fazle Haq of Khayrabad, “The Story of the War of
Independence 1857-58”, Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society,
vol. V, pt. 1, January 1957, p. 29.

10. National Herald, May 10, 1957.

11. Mukherjee, op. cit., p. 223.

12. R.C. Dutt, The Economic History of India in the Victorian Age, p.
xv.

13. Montgomeny Martin, Eastern India, Introduction to vol. I.

14. Mukherjee, op. cit., pp. 224-25.

15. Marx, “The British Rule in India”, New York Daily Tribune, June
25, 1853.

16. Majumdar, op. cit., p. 229.

17. Charles Ball, Indian Mutiny, vol. II. p. 242.

18. Sir T. Metcalfe, Two Narratives of the Mutiny at Delhi, pp. 98-99.

19. Quoted by Edward Thompson, The Other Side of the Medal, pp. 73-74.
20. Quoted by Savarkar, Indian War of Independence, p. 134.

21. Majendie, Up Among the Pandies, pp. 195-96.

22. Kaye & Malleson, History of the Indian Mutiny, vol. II, p. 281.

23. Nehru, Discovery of India, p. 281.

24. Marx, unsigned article, New York Daily Tribune, July 15, 1857. 25.
Nehru, op. cit., p. 279.

26. Quoted by Savarkar, op. cit., pp. 534-35.

27. Nehru, op. cit., p. 279.

28. Majumdar, op. cit., p. 241.

29. S.N. Sen, Eighteen Fifty Seven, pp. 412-13.

30. John Williams Kaye, A History of the Sepoy War, vol. I, p. 565.

31. Quoted by Asoka Mehta, The Great Rebellion, p. 42.

32. Fazle Haq, op. cit., p. 33.

33. Vide Talmiz Khaldun’s paper “The Great Rebellion” presented at the
symposium held on the occasion of the centenary of the 1857 Revolt.

34. Metcalfe, op. cit., p. 220.

35. Ibid., Jeewanlal’s Diary, under date 26 August.

36. G.W. Forrest, op. cit., vol. II, p. 150.

37. On October 5, 1858. See Col. G.B. Malleson, Indian Mutiny of 1857,
Vol. III, p. 287.

38. On February 3, 1858. See Ibid., vol. II, p. 334.

39. Ball, op. cit., vol. II, p. 241.

40. Quoted by Asoka Mehta, op. cit., pp. 51-52. Also Savarkar, op.
cit., p. 444.

41. W.H. Russell, My Diary in India in the Year 1858-59, p. 276.

42. M.R. Gubbins, An Account of the Mutinies in Oudh, p. 53.

43. T.R. Holmes, History of the Seopy War, p. 506.

44. Gubbins, op. cit., p. 58.

45. Majumdar, op. cit., p. 217. 46. Nehru, op. cit., p. 284. 47.
Ibid., p. 268. 48. Nehru, op. cit., p. 285. 49. Earl Granville,
February 19, 1858, in the House of Lords in reply to the charges of
the President of the Board of Control, Lord Ellenborough.
Parliamentary Debates, 3rd series, CXL VIII, 1858, pp. 1728-29.

50. Quoted by Sen, op. cit., p. 29.

51. Dadabhai Naoroji, “The Condition of India”. Correspondence with
the Secretary of State for India, Journal of the East India Affairs,
XIV, 1882, pp. 171-172.

52. K. N. Panikkar, Asia and Western Dominance, p. 105.

53. Ibid., pp. 162-163.

54. Ibid., pp. 164-165.

55. Marx, unsigned article, New York Herald Tribune, July 15, 1857. *]

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article107.html

Mainstream Weekly

Mainstream, Vol XLVI No 41

Dissecting Anew Hindu-Muslim Ties And Partition
Wednesday 1 October 2008, by Amarendra Nath Banerjee

[(BOOK REVIEW)]

HINDU-MUSLIM RELATIONS IN A NEW PERSPECTIVE BY PANCHANAN SAHA
(FOREWORD BY DR ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER); BISWABIKSHA, KOLKATA; PP.
FORWORD +392; RS 300.

Hindu-Muslim relations are very much complicated—the knottiest problem
in Indian history. Since the advent of Islam in the Indian
subcontinent more than millennium years ago, India faced a powerful
challenge from a militant and vigorous religion with an egalitarian
appeal. India failed to stem the tide of the rapid spread of Islam due
to internal squabbles and degeneration of society. In the caste-ridden
Brahminical society the lower castes were denied proper human rights.
They were not only socially degraded but also economically exploited.
It is no wonder, therefore, that millions of them welcomed Islam as a
religion of deliverance and to gain human dignity. The theory of
social liberation seems to be right for substantial reasons in
Islamisation in India. Swami Vivekananda had rightly said:

The Mohammedan conquest of India came as a salvation to the
downtrodden, to the poor. That is why one-fifth of our people have
become Mohammedan. It was not the sword that did it all. It would be
the height of madness to think that it was all the work of sword and
fire.

But it does not mean force was not at all applied in Islamisation.
However, the major role was played by the Sufi saints and Pirs in it.
Nevertheless, wholesale Islamisation did not take place in India like
Afghanistan, Persia and other countries perhaps due to the inherent
strength of the Hindu philosophy in spite of its many drawbacks.

The advent of Islam produced tremendous reactions in India. Hinduism
wanted to protect itself by going into its inner shells with stricter
caste rules and regulations. But this hardly helped in preventing the
egalitarian influence of Islam on Hindu society. The Bhakti movement
was its product.

But living hundreds of years side by side, eating the same grain from
the common fields, drinking the same water and inhaling the same air,
the Hindu and Muslim societies and religions underwent profound
changes. Islam of India today is not the same as what it was when it
arrived. Hinduism also could not remain the same. Both the religions
had influenced each other. There was some kind of assimilation between
the two in spite of frequent clashes and mutual hostility. But
unfortunately a composite Indian nation has failed to emerge
assimilating the two major religions in India due to various factors
which led ultimately to the partition of the country.

Dr Panchanan Saha’s new book, Hindu-Muslim Relations in a New
Perspective, is projected on a large canvas from the advent of Islam—
gradual Islamisation and its causes, conflict and assimilation,
sprouting of the seeds of separation by the conscious British policy
of divide-and-rule, Hindu-Muslim revivalism and the short-sighted
policy of the Indian political leaders which ultimately led to the
communal carnage and partition of India.

In the chapter, “Conflict and Assimilation”, Saha emphasises the role
played by the Sufi saints, Bhakti movement as well as attempts of the
Mughal Emperor, Akbar, and his great grandson, Dara Shiko, to help the
process of reconciliation between the Hindus and Muslims. But
unfortunately this process was not properly taken forward due to
various factors, particularly the emergence of Wahhabism and Hindu-
Muslim revivalism.

♦

IN his analysis Saha has been seldom swayed by emotion; rather he has
remained mostly faithful to rationalism. He holds that the causes of
spread of separatism among the Muslims of India are to be found in the
refusal of the already matured Hindu bourgeoisie in sharing power with
the newly emerging Muslim bourgeoisie. Muslim bourgeoisie developed
later due to their empathy to British rule and Western education.

Saha has sympathetically discussed the Fourteen Points of M.A. Jinnah
in this direction and the rejection of the Congress to share power
with the Muslim League in Uttar Pradesh after the elections of 1936
and to collaborate with Fazlul Haque in Bengal for forming a secular
Ministry. It seems class interest played a more decisivie role in
making this choice than the greater interest of the country.

There is a simplistic explanation of Hindu-Muslim cleavage by putting
the sole responsibility on the British policy of divide-and-rule. But
Saha appears to be correct when he cites Tagore—“The Satan cannot
enter unless there is a hole to get in.” Tagore believed that division
among Hindus and Muslims existed and the cunning British rulers
utilised it to prolong their rule.

In his last chapter, entitled “Was Partition Inescapable?”, Saha has
not traversed the beaten tracks of numerous scholars of partition. He
has used substantial Pakistani literature on partition to prove his
point.

There is an enigma why Gandhiji, in spite of opposing partition on the
basis of religion tooth and nail, ultimately accepted it as a fait
accompli. The Frontier Gandhi, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, lamented that
they were thrown to the wolves. What went on behind-the-scenes is a
mystery to this day.

It seems that the Hindu big bourgeoisie wanted an unchallenged market
even in partitioned India. They seemed to think that a truncated
Pakistan would not be viable. Whatever the reasons, it is evident that
had the Indian leaders shown true sagacity and leadership free of
class or emotional bias, there might have been a Confederation of
India based on the Cabinet Mission’s Plan which the Congress initially
accepted but subsequently refused to do so for reasons that are
unknown. Hence it is not inappropriate to quote The Times of India:

It is legitimate to enquire who is responsible for this debacle. ….
the parties concerned, the Congress, the British Government and the
Muslim League, are all more or less responsible, although on the facts
set forth, the Congress should get the first prize.

One could have expected that such a serious book should have remained
free from printing and editorial errors.

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article957.html

Mainstream Weekly

Mainstream, Vol XLVI, No 50

Hindu Terrorism: The Shock of Recognition
Wednesday 3 December 2008, by Badri Raina

Epigraph

“Underlying these religions were a common set of beliefs about how you
treat other people and how you aspire to act, not just for yourself
but also for the greater good.”

(Obama in his interview about Religion given to Cathleen Falsani,
March 27, 2004; cf. to his mother’s teaching about the validity of
diverse faiths and the value of tolerance.)

I

So, now, India is home to “Hindu” terrorism. Departing from the more
usual banner-appelation, “Saffron Terror”, I wish the fact to be
registered that saffron is drawn from the stamin of a delicate and
indescribably pretty mauve flower grown exclusively in my home valley
of Kashmir, and exclusively by Muslims. My inherited memories of it
are thereby sweet and secular to the core. Also, saffron when used to
grace milk products, Biryani, or to brew the heavenly kehwa is a thing
of the gods truly.

It is only when it is coerced against the use of nature to colour
politics that it rages against the sin. Then, don’t we know, what
gruesome consequences begin?

I think it proper, therefore, to stick with the more direct and honest
description, “Hindu” terrorism, since, much against their grain, even
India’s premier TV channels are now bringing us news of “Hindu”
terrorism, so compelling the materials gathered by the investigating
agencies thus far. This despite the fact that in my view the term
“Hindu” trerrorism is as erroneous as the term “Muslim” terrorism.
Even though not a religious man myself, I am able to see that being
Hindu or Muslim by accident of birth has no necessary connect with how
one’s politics turns out to be in adult life. A plethora of specific
contexts and shaping histories are here provenly more to the point.

II

It was way back in 1923 that Savarkar, never a practising Hindu
(indeed a self-confessed atheist) had first understood that from this
benign term, “Hindu”, could be drawn the toxic racial concept
Hindutva, and made to serve a forthrightly fascist purpose. That
Brahminism had always been a socially toxic form of Hinduism was of
course an enabling prehistory to the new project.

He it was who established Abhinav Bharat in Pune (1904), that
theoretical hotbed of twice-born Brahminical casteism against which
low-caste social reformers such as Phule, Periyar, and Ambedkar were
to struggle their whole lives long.

Such casteism was made the instrument of communalist politics to serve
two major objectives: one, to overwhelm and negate the specific
cultural and material oppressions of the low-caste within the Hindu
Varna system , and two, to elevate the low-caste as a warrior of a
common “Hindutva” army against the chief common “enemy”, the Muslim.
Such an army has been seen to be needed to salvage the “real” nation
from this so-called common enemy who continues to be represented to
this day by the RSS and its hydra-headed “educational” front
organisations as an “invader” still bent on seeking to convert India
into an Islamic theocratic state.

Aided in these mythical fears and constructions by the British during
the crucial decades leading upto Independence, India’s majoritarian
fascists continue thus to keep at bay all consideration of secular
oppressions based entirely in the brutal social order of Capitalist
expropriation.

Savarkar thus counselled how a resurgent nation could result only if
“Hinduism was militarised, and the military Hinduised”.

Clearly enough, the serving Army Colonel, S.P. Purohit, and the other
retired Major, one Upadhyay, who the Mumbai ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad)
tells us, are at the centre of the Malegaon terrorist blasts of
September 29, 2008, alongwith Sadhvi Pragya and the rogue-sadhu,
Amreetanand—and very possibly complicit in half-a dozen other blasts
as well—seem to have heeded Savarkar’s advice to the hilt.

Indeed, in his narco-test confessions, Colonel Purohit, sources have
told some TV channels (Times Now), admits to his guilt and justifies
his actions as retribution for what he thinks SIMI (Student’s Islamic
Movement of India) have been doing. He is understood to have further
indicated that the rogue sadhu, Amreetanand, nee Dayanand etc., has
been the kingpin and chief coordinator and devisor of several other
blasts carried out by this cell, including the blasts at the revered
Ajmer Dargah (Mausoleum of the 12th century Sufi saint, Chisti, which
to this day draws devotees across faiths the world-over), and at
Kanpur.

The ATS are now busy exploring the routes through which huge sums of
money have been brought into the country for such terrorist activity
as hawala transactions, and whether the RDX, suspected to be used in
the Malegaon blast, was procured by Colonel Purohit through Army
connections. It is to be noted that Purohit has been in Military
Intelligence, and serving in Jammu and Kashmir, where it is thought he
made contact with the rogue sadhu, Amreetanand.

(Indeed, as I write, news comes of the ATS claiming that Purohit
actually stole some 60 kilos of RDX which was in his custody while
doing duty at Deolali, and that in his narco-test confession he admits
to passing it on to one “Bhagwan” for use in the blast on the
Samjhauta Express train in February, 2007.)

Needless to say, that alongwith the courts, we will also require that
the ATS is actually able to obtain convictions rather than merely pile
on evidence which may not be admissible in law.

To return to the argument:

As I suggested in my last column, “Notions of the Nation” (Znet,
November 4), Hindutva militarism since the establishment of the Hindu
Mahasabha and the RSS has been inspired by the desire to emulate and
then better Muslim “aggressiveness” seen as a racial characteristic
that defined “Muslim” rule in India, and rendered Hindus “limp” and
“cowardly”.

Thus, if Savarkar established Abhinav Bharat, Dr Moonje, an avowed
Mussolini admirer who in turn inspired Dr Hedgewar to establish the
RSS on Vijay Dashmi of 1924 (victory day, denoting the liquidation of
the Dravidian Ravana by the Aryan Kshatriya warrior, Ram), established
the Bhondsala Military Academy at Indore (1937). It now transpires
that this academy has been playing host to the Bajrang Dal for
militarist training routines etc., and its Director, one Raikar, has
put in his papers. Unsurprisingly enough, both these institutions are
now under the scanner.

III

Over the last decade, terrorist blasts have occurred in India across a
wide variety of sites and in major cities and towns.

Many of these blasts have taken place outside mosques and known
Muslim- majority locations, as well outside cinema halls that were
thought to be showing movies inimical to Hindu glory.

Briefly, these sites are: cinemas in Thane and Vashi in Maharashtra,
Jalna, Purna, Parbhani, and Malegaon towns, again all in Maharashtra—
and all areas of high Muslim density, in Hyderabad outside a famous
old mosque, and in Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat.

Curiously, in the Surat episode, some sixteen odd bombs were found
placed along the main thoroughfare in tree branches, on house-tops, on
electric poles and so forth. Not one of them however exploded. This
was thought to be the result of defective switches. Curious
circumstance that; besides the wonder that Ahmedabad’s Muslims could
find such sprawling access to such strategic locations without Modi
knowing a thing.

Yet, regardless of where the blasts have taken place, almost without
exception the Pavlovian response of state agencies as well as, sad to
say, media channels has been invariably to point fingers of suspicion
and culpability towards one or the other “Islamic” outfit.

Often, young Muslims men have been rounded up in the scores and held
for days of brutal questioning without the least prima facie evidence.
Nearly in all such cases, however reluctantly, they have had to be let
off.

The most recent case is that of some fifteen young Muslims picked up
after the Hyderabad blasts. Tortured with electric shocks, they have
nevertheless been found to be innocent and let go.

Indeed, after the gruesome blasts in the Samjhauta Express—a train
service of reconciliation and confidence-building between India and
Pakistan—in which some 68 people were burnt to cinders, 45 of them
Pakistani citizens, fingers were immediately pointed towards the SIMI.

Yet, the ATS of Mumbai now suspects that this may also be the doing of
the “Hindu” terrorists in custody. These speculations have been raised
by the circumstance that the suitcases that held the bombs had Indore
labels on them.

Just as the ATS now suspects that more than half a dozen blasts (the
two at Malegaon, in 2006 and 2008, at the cinemas in Thane and Vashi,
at Jalna, at Purna, at Parbhani, provenly at Nanded and Kanpur) have
all been the handiwork of “Hindu” terror groups.

IV

For some years, reputed civil and human rights organisations, and
individual members of civil society that have included journalists,
judges, lawyers, writers, artists, teachers, students, and labour
organisations, besides organised Muslim fora and Left parties, have
been cautioning both state agencies and media conglomerates to:

• desist from the Pavlovian haste with which some one or other Muslim
group is immediately named and labelled literally within an hour of
the occurrence of a blast, thus contributing to the maligning of the
entire Muslim community;

• to consider the possibility that groups other than those involving
Muslims could be involved;

• to refrain from covering up prima facie evidence which points to
such possibilities; indeed, where such evidence seems conclusive, as
the complicity of the Bajrang Dal at Nanded and Kanpur;

• to ponder the question as to why Muslims should effect blasts within
their own localities or outside their mosques;

• to weigh the consequences for the Muslim psyche of the failure of
the state to prevent repeated pogroms against them, and to find or
punish the guilty; not to speak of active state connivance in those
pogroms (Moradabad, 198o; Nellie, 1983; Hashimpura, 1987; Bhagalpur,
1989; Mumbai, 1992-93; Gujarat, 2002, to cite just the more recent
ones);

• to permit transparency in the matter of police investigations with
due regard for the Constitutional rights of those held in custody—such
as visitation, access to legal defence, norms of the recording of
confession and other evidence etc.;

• to respect the obligatory presumption of innocence until anyone is
juridically found guilty;

Time and again these cautions and rightful prerogatives have been
trampled under foot.

Aided by the loud biases of the corporate media which have tended to
reflect the predilections both of free-market imperialism and
comprador urban middle class sentiments in India’s metropolitan towns,
India’s state agencies and that “all-knowing” species, the
Intellegence expert, who seems ever present to reinforce anti-Muslim
prejudice, have tended to feed massively into the politics of the
Hindu Right-wing.

For years on end, India’s chief malady has been sought to be seen to
reside in “Islamic” terrorism, and in the complicit refusal of the
secularists to allow draconian preventive laws to be brought back on
the books. Not in poverty, malnutrition, disease, absence of health
care or clean drinking water, or lack of steady work among the urban
poor, or the ousted tribals, disenfranchised farmers, chronic failure
of primary schooling and so forth among some 75 per cent of Indians.
And most of them belonging to the Muslim, Dalit, and Tribal
communities.

And to repeat for the nth time, this three-fourths of Indians able to
spend just or under Rupees Twenty a day, all according to the
governments’ own Arjun Sengupta Committee Report.

Not to speak of the venomous communalisation of the polity, the
alienation and ghettoisation of the minorities, and the state’s
failure or unwillingness to carry through schemes that could redress
these maladies.

As to new terror laws, the government of the day may protest that it
has all the laws it wants, and more; as well as the fact that the
worst terrorist attacks took place when laws like the dreaded POTA
(Prevention of Terrorism Act) was on the books during the tenure of
the NDA regime led by the ultra-”nationalist” BJP. Small dent is made
by any regime of empirically-founded facts, or fair-minded arguments
on the right-wing fascists and their fattened constituency.

V

Now, of course, a radically transformed milieu is unravelling.

Photos and videos are doing the rounds that show the “Hindu”
terrorists currently under investigation in close and intimate
proximity to top leaders of the RSS, the VHP, and the BJP as well.

Had POTA indeed been on the books today, such evidence would have
authorised the police to put them all behind bars on the charge of
associating with those under investigation for “terrorism”. And all
that without any recourse to bail either.

Predictably, nonetheless, after some days of dumbfounded
crestfallenness (remember that the main electoral plank of the BJP in
the elections now under way in several states and in the soon-to-be-
held parliamentary polls is the failure of the Congress to eradicate
“terrorism” because of its “minority appeasement” policies), the Right-
wing fascists are back to brazen form.

Even as the projected Prime Ministerial candidate, Advani (the high-
point of whose career remains the successful demolition of the Babri
mosque) seeks to strike a stance of caution, party hard-liners have
taken to peddling outrageous theories.

As a complement to the well-known Pavlovian hunch that “all terrorists
are Muslims”, we are now told by the likes of Rajnath Singh, the party
President, that “no Hindu can be a terrorist”, that is to say even
when he or she is found to be one.

This for the reason that what the ordinary man calls “terrorism” is in
fact “nationalism” where any Hindu be involved. Live and learn.

Other than that, it is both interesting and laughable that spokesmen
and women of the BJP are today reduced to gurgitating every single
argument that Muslims and civil rights organisations have to this day
voiced:

• presume innocence until found guilty;

• desist from the “political conspiracy” to malign a whole community;

• do not let enemies of the Hindu-right propagate fake evidence
against them, since all evidence against them must be fake in
principle;

• and most outlandishly, do not communalise terrorism; that from
India’s rank communalists who have done nothing but communalise
terrorism ever since we remember!

VI

Even as these new developments point to a potentially mortal combat
among “Hindu” and “Muslim” terror groups, I venture to think that the
situation also offers opportunities of far-reaching redressal for all
three axes that matter: the state and its agencies, the party-
political system, and the polity generally.

First off, if, as has been the case, the Congress’ secular credentials
have consistently been vitiated by, willy nilly, playing second-fiddle
to Hindu-communalist appeasement, the denuding of the Hindu-Right
offers it the opportunity of a lifetime to assert the supremacy of the
constitutional scheme of things, without fear or favour.

It is indeed a circumstance that can now help the Congress and other
secular parties to come down like a ton on communalism of all shades
that underpin the fatal subversion of the secular republic without the
need for apology.

In this endeavour, its greatest inspiration must come from two factors
on the Muslim side of the issue:

one, that over the last year every single major and influential Muslim
cultural and religious organisation has publicly, and repeatedly,
denounced through speech, act, and fatwa “terrorism” as un-Islamic and
a rightful candidate for punishment under law;

and, two, that without exception they have pleaded only and ever for
fair and just treatment at the hands of the authorised instruments of
state, both when victimised by pogroms and suspected as culprits; and
for credible pursuit of those that persecute them.

Not once has any Muslim organisation worth the name suggested that
Muslims have any claims that override the cosntitutional regime of
laws and procedures pertaining to all citizens of the Republic.

All that in stark contrast to the refusal, however camouflaged or
strategised, of the RSS and its affiliates to accept either the
secular Constitution or the notion of secular citizenship.

It is to be recalled that the RSS tactically acquiesced to
acknowledging the primacy of the national flag over its own saffron
one in 1949 as a quid pro quo to its release from the ban imposed on
it after Gandhi’s murder.

To this day it seeks to overthrow the Republic as constituted by law
and to replace it by a theocratic Hindu Rashtra wherein the
prerogatives of citizenship will be determined not by secular,
democratic equality but racial difference among Indians (all that
brutally codified in Golwalker’s two books, We, and Our Ntionhood
Defined; and, the later Bunch of Thoughts which explicitly designates
Muslims as the nations’s “Enemy Number One” in an exclusive chapter).

However Hindu cultural politics may have come to infect sections of
the fattened urbanites, the Congress must show the conviction that
none of these in this day and age would be willing to back what is
explicitly “terrorist” activity, indistinguishable from any other,
once the matter is proven.

This then is a fine moment to release a new energetic politics that
recharges the conviction and inspiration of the non-discriminatory
humanism that informed the leaders of the freedom movement, and thus
to disengage whatever popular base the Hindu-Right has built over the
years since the demolition of the Babri mosque from its fascist
leaderships and cadres.

Just as, in fact, many BJP supporters are busy thinking whether they
are indeed willing to carry their love of Muslim-haters quite to the
point where those other dreams of Indian super-powerdom are seriously
jeopardised by a war of competing terrorisms.

It is also a golden opportunity for the Congress-led UPA, should it
come back to power, to take a hard look at the communalist virus that
has infected law-enforcement agencies over the decades, and to make
bold to effect reforms of a far-reaching character, such as include
the recruitment of Muslims and other “minorities” in due proportion to
the forces, and not just among the lower ranks.

Speaking of the Army, some three per cent Muslims are today among its
ranks—some sixty years after Independence. And I won’t make a guess as
to how abysmal might in fact be its share among the officer core,
colonel and above. And wouldn’t I dearly like to take a peek into what
sort of Indian History is taught India’s future officers at Khada-
kvasla and Dehradun? Truly; and who does the teaching as well.

VII

As to the BJP: it has another opportunity as well, namely, to
reconstitute itself as a secular party on the Right, bearing full
allegiance to the Constitution in letter and spirit (remember now that
among other things on the street-level, the NDA regime led by the BJP
did constitute a Constitution Review Committee—an ominous enough move
that, thankfully, was duly aborted in course), and shunning once and
for all its enslavement to the RSS and its fascist vision of India,
its history, culture and state.

Failing to do so, the BJP may succeed in causing further mayhem; but
it is highly unlikely now to attain the sort of ascendance it seeks
through fair means and foul.

Most of all, the BJP must understand that the Muslims of India, and
Christians as well, have the inalienable right to live and work in the
country on the terms set by the Constitution, not by the RSS or the
Sangh Parivar.

And, conversely, that the BJP itself is as subject to those
constitutional stipulations as any another collective of Indians who
practice their beliefs and politics.

Let the BJP notice the epigraph chosen for this column; it comes from
the new President-elect of the one country that the BJP adores. Or
will it now, with a Black man at the helm?

A different voice floats from there.

Time for the BJP to change its langoti, and say “yes we can” also be
peaceable and law-abiding citizens of the Republic of India. And to
prize and protect its magnificent plurality like all sensible and
humane Indians.

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1067.html

Mainstream Weekly

Mainstream, Vol. XLVII, No 34, August 8, 2009

Will RSS see the Ground Reality and join to Salve India‘s Core Values?
Sunday 16 August 2009, by Sailendra Nath Ghosh

Of late, the RSS has been accusing the BJP of inconsistency and also
of failure to convey the real meaning of Hindutva. The BJP has
certainly been inconsistent. It has been in two minds because like the
Congress, it, too, is preoccupied, not with any principle or any
concern for correct ideation, but with the slogan that can help it
capture power. But on the question of the real meaning of Hindutva, is
the RSS itself clear and consistent? It has a very large and committed
cadre. Why does it depend on the BJP to “convey the real meaning”? To
what extent has the RSS itself succeeded in conveying the supposedly
real meaning?

The RSS has been saying that anybody who regards India as his/her
motherland and a holy land is a Hindu and that the Indian Muslims are
Mohammadi Hindus and the Indian Christians are Isahi Hindus and so on.
Now, there is a large body of people who plainly call themselves
Hindus. They are not the followers of any one Prophet or of any one
Book. They have a large body of sacred books – the Vedas, the
Upanishads, the Geeta and Puranas. They venerate many Rishis and adore
some maryada-purushes like Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. How should they
be described? They cannot be called Ramiah Hindus or Krishnaiah
Hindus. They would not like to be called Sakti-ite Hindus, or Shivaite
or Vaishnavaite Hindus. Saktism, shaivism, and vaishnavism have got so
merged in their thinking that they are partly sakta, partly shaiva and
partly vaishnava. They worship all these principles as different
manifestations of the one Supreme Reality in differing circumstances.

If they are to be called “Sanatan dharmis” or in brief, “Sanatanis”,
why did the RSS not launch a movement insisting that the members of
the community, now plainly called Hindus, add a prefix “Sanatani” to
bring consistency? Not to do that would mean they would continue to
describe themselves as Hindus by religion, and again, as Hindus by
nationality. This becomes ridiculous.

Hinduism is no particular religion. It is a philosophy of religions.
The great nationalist leader, late Bipin Chandra Pal, described
Hinduism as a “confederal principle of co-existence of all religions”.
In deference to this spirit, the RSS had composed a verse in which the
names of pious Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Jains were included
as persons to be remembered and revered early every morning, before
beginning the day’s work.

Socio-Cultural Heritage got Degraded

IF this is Hinduism, how does Hindutva differ from it? The RSS’s
cryptic answer is, Hindutva is the concept of “geocultural
nationalism”. Implicitly, it says that long before India’s political
unification, India had achieved cultural unification from Jammu and
Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and from Arunachal and Meghalaya to Saurashtra
through the medium of two great epics, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata, and the Geeta (which is truly a part of the Mahabharata).
These great works of the ancient Indians, then universally called
Hindus, had imparted values of parental love, filial duties, brotherly
love, unshakeable fidelity to the spouse, the monarch’s obedience to
the people’s wishes, the triumph of dharma over the mightiest wrong-
doer—that is, values to be cherished in perpetuity. Hence Hindutva is
value-orientation, the RSS claims. But can the RSS deny that during
the so-called Hindu period, caste hatred had taken firm roots as a
value? In ancient India, desertion of the wife for no fault of hers
also had become a tradition, as in the case of Sita. Murder of a
shudra for reading the Vedas was sanctioned by the social ethos.

Merit of Religio-Confederal Concept

THE RSS needs to accept that the ancient Hindus had, at a certain
stage, come to indulge in regressive social discrimination. The
obverse side of “geocultral nationalism” was socio-cultural dominance
of the higher castes and of the males among them. In the sphere of
philosophical concepts, however, the ancient Hindus were the most
liberal and the highest in cosmopolitanism (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam).
Hence if the RSS does not want to nurture caste inequality and gender
inequality, it should give up its “geo-cultural nationalism” (read the
socio-cultural concept) of Hindutva. If it seeks to promote the
philosophy of co-existence of all faiths, which is the ideal of
Hinduism, it should opt for the religio-confederal concept of
Hindustaniyat. The Muslims of this country have no problem with this,
because they have been traditionally describing themselves as
Hindustanis. The word Hindustan itself came from the verbiage of the
Iranians.

Four Cardinal Considerations

THE RSS needs to recognise four things. First, the usage of a word in
a restricted sense over centuries changes the original acceptation of
the word. Secondly, the Koran not only teaches the oneness of the
Creator. Its esoteric message is the unity of all of creation. The
bigots fail to see this. Hence, for ages, the raging controversy
within Islam, in the words of the eminent historian, the late Prof
Mohammad Habib, has been “between Wahdat-ul-wujud (God is everything)
and Wahdat-ush-shuhud (everything comes from God)”. Those who believe
in the former become attuned to tolerance, amicable relations between
all religious and racial communities and (Emperor) Akbar’s doctrine of
sulh-I-kul (Universal Religious Peace). The doctrine of Wahdat-ush-
shuhud led to the worship of external shariat (shariat-i-zahiri) and
communal hatred. (Vide Prof Habib’s Foreword to Dr S.A.A.Rizvi’s book
“Muslim Revivalist Movements in Northern India in the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries”)

From the above, it follows that the pious people in other faiths
should help in resolving the worldwide intra-Islamic controversy in
favour of the former. Declaration of the principle of confederal
principle in religion in India would largely help resolve Islam’s
global problem and be a powerful blow against bigotry, for world
peace.

Thirdly, India’s religio-philosophy’s contribution to Sufism in Islam,
and Islam’s contribution to spurring religious reform movements in
India constitute a glorious chapter in the world’s history. Historians
agree that the growth of Sufism in early Islam was inspired as much by
its internal urges as by the influences of Buddhism, the Vedanta and
the Hellenistic religions. Islam’s strident call to equality was
wedded to the Arabian nomadic tribes’ aggressive traits. It needed an
Indian response. This provided the spark for the religious reform
movements led by Ramananda, Kabir, Namdev, Tukaram, Guru Nanak and Sri
Chaitanya. To talk of inequitous socio-cultural Hindutva as the motto
is to belittle the fruitful intermingling of the religio-philosophical
thoughts of early Islam and its contemporary Hinduism.

Sharing is a positive value within Islam. Sharing the means of
sustenance is also an ideal of Hinduism so much so that Swami
Vivekananda had proclaimed that the “Hindu ideal is socialistic”.
Hence there is considerable convergence between the pristine Islamic
and Hindu spirituality.

Fourthly, all the ideals of love and selfless service which the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata had taught are getting eclipsed under the
influence of the now globally dominant commercialism, selfism, and cut-
throat competitivism in the name of efficiency. To restore ancient
India’s sublime values, we need a joint fight of all people against
the West’s consumerist and acquisitive philosophy of life and its
accompanying paradigm of development. The Biblical value of universal
love, the Koranic value of Raham and the Upanishadic teaching “love
others as you do yourself” can join together to beat back the narrow
self-centric modes of thought. For this also, the fascination for the
word “Hindutva” needs to be given up to salve the basic values.

Hinduism’s ideal is synthesis, ever higher synthesis. It requires
reconciliation by dissolving the sources of conflict in every
unfolding situation. Its ideal is integration of the heart and the
head (that is, emotion and intellect) of every individual; integration
of individuals with the society; integration of the communities by
elevation to newer peaks of harmonious existence. Its form of address
must, therefore, be such as has a psychological appeal to all people.
The language of negativism, or a language that has the flavour of bias
against any group is alien to the spirit of Hinduism. We need
inclusivism in letter and spirit.

Inclusivism is not an apologia for overlooking anybody’s hateful,
divisive or separatist trends. But to successfully fight separatism,
we must have a robust faith in the ultimate victory of the cause for
universal good and the preparedness to make sacrifices for it. Success
is assured if the approach is positive. Mere criticism/condemnation of
any trend without a pointer to the workable alternative serves only to
widen the gulf. It defeats the national purpose.

True, the virulent anti-Hindu, anti-Shia mujaddid movement in the 16th
century, the bigoted ulama’s secretive conspiracies against Emperor
Akbar’s policy of religious tolerance in the 16th century, the wave of
Wahabi Jihadism from Arabia in the 18th century, the ani-Hindu tirade
of the later-day incarnate of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in the late 19th
century and the mayhem for a separate homeland for the Muslims led by
the later-day incarnate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah were all abominations
and deserved condemnation. But the turning of the usually unruly
Pathans into the volunteers of non-violence led by the Frontier Gandhi
( Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan) was an index of the wonder that communal
harmony and national unity could achieve.

Indian Muslims had no Pathological Separatism

IT must not be imagined that the Indian Muslims had always been under
separatist influence. It is well known that in undivided Punjab,
undivided Bengal and in Sind and the NWFP, and Balochistan, that is,
in the Muslim-majority States which were to constitute Pakistan later,
the Muslim League’s influence was meagre. In the elections to the
provincial legislatures and the Central Assembly in 1937, just a
decade before the Partition, the Muslim League had cut a sorry figure.
In Punjab, it contested only seven out of 84 Muslim reserved seats and
won only two. In Bengal, out of 117 Muslim reserved seats, it had won
only 38. In Sind out of 133 Muslim reserved seats, it had secured only
38. In the NWFP, the League was trounced. The League did not get even
a single seat in the Central Assembly. This showed the Muslims could
be mobilised for national purposes if the national leadership could
act wisely and avoid falling into traps.

True, a decade later the results were reversed. The Muslim League won
all the 30 reserved seats for Muslims in the Central Assembly and 428
seats out of 492 reserved seats for Muslims in provincial
legislatures. That happened because the elections were held in an
atmosphere in which no civilised country would ever allow an election
to take place. The ambience was vitiated by the British rulers’
intrigues, the Imams’ fatwas and false propaganda blitz that in the
event of Muslim League’s defeat, the Muslims would not be allowed to
congregate to offer prayers or to bury their dead and that the
madrasas would all be closed. The Indian National Congress, which had
the necessary moral resources and international prestige, could have
asked for postponement of the elections unless there was a stoppage of
the false propaganda and a calming down of the tempers. Moreover, it
should never have agreed to the elections— a virtual referendum —
being held on the basis of restricted franchise in which only 10 per
cent of the population had the right to vote!

Deadly Poison Mix of Ruling Party’s Pseudo-Secularism and RSS’
Hindutva

IN post-independence India, the ruling Congress party, in the name of
secularism, has been following a policy of appeasing the bigoted
Muslim clerics. Thereby it encouraged “minority aggressivism” and
further fuelled the communal fire. But Hindutvavad was no answer to
this. Instead of mitigating the communal fire, it only served to
corroborate Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s and later Jinnah’s thesis that the
Muslims and the Hindus were two separate nations. What was needed
instead was the pointer that concessions to the clerics were only a
cloak for neglect of the Muslim masses’ material, intellectual and
spiritual interests. Only Mahatma Gandhi’s kind of response could have
been effective. During his Noakhali tour, with his ever-present
declaration of Universal Love, he had challenged the communalist
leaders to show him where the Koran had enjoined the killing of people
of other faiths. Could the RSS challenge the communalists the way the
Mahatma did?

One only wishes that the Mahatma had shown the same grit by standing
steadfastly with Maulana Azad and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in resisting
Partition.

Hinduism’s unique teaching is: “Hate the sin, not the sinner.”
Hinduism also teaches: “Love others as you do yourself.” “Love has the
power to heal.” The Biblical teaching, too, is Universal Love. The
Koran teaches Khuda’s Raham pervades the universe. Criticism by the
way of pointer to the error is essential. But criticism without
concern for the welfare of the wrong-doer is of no avail.

Half-hearted Compromise is no Solution

IN its latest meet, the BJP’s National Executive has tried to make a
compromise between the RSS’ clamour for Hindutva and many of the BJP
leaders’ belated realisation that the Hindutva slogan alienates not
only the Muslims, Christians and large sections of the Dalits, but
also the secular “caste-Hindus”. L.K. Advani’s middle-path declaration
that the party would not accept “any narrow, bigoted, anti-Muslim
interpretation of Hindutva” indicates it is unable to shed its
fascination for the word it has so long been pledged to. In fact, the
BJP would not be able to shed it until the the RSS realises how, by
sticking to this word, it is hampering national unity and also
defeating its own cherished values. This tightrope walking by the BJP
will not have the healing touch. This will not unify the people.

Clearly discarding Hindutva and accepting Hindustaniyat will not mean
any loss of face. This will rather show the courage to steer a change
propelled by the depth of patriotic fervour.

If the RSS and/or the BJP could drop Hindutva as its motto, it would
be able to challenge the Muslimist bigots more effectively. Like Dr
Rafiq Zakaria and in one voice with all truly secular people, it will
be able to tell the bigoted clerics:

During the British rule, you accepted the replacements of the Koranic
punishments by those which the then rulers had imposed in their civil
and criminal courts. At that time, you acquiesced in the banning of
the stoning of the adulterous to death, though this ban violated the
Koranic injunction. You paid interest on the loans taken from the
banks though it was prohibited by the Koran. Now, you raise a hue and
cry about carrying out some essential reforms in Muslim Personal Law
even though some Muslim countries have already enacted them. In
protest against the Supreme Court’s righteous verdict in the Shah Bano
case, you got enacted a law of maintenance which has thrown many
Muslim women divorcees to the streets. ‘Triple talaq at one go’ is
barbaric and against the spirit of the Koran; still you cling to it.

After it drops the outmoded Hindutva slogan, it would be able to mock
the shariat enthusiasts in the manner of Akbar Allahabadi: “The Shaikh
advised his followers, why do you travel by train when you could
travel on camel’s back?”

Writing on the Wall

MAYBE, all these pleas will fall flat in the RSS leadership’s ears. In
that case, the RSS should read the writing on the wall: the RSS will
break up or become moribund. Despite its claim of being a monolith
with no divergence of views among its members, the RSS will face a
grave existential crisis if it does not change its tune in keeping
with the times. There are already sufficient indications. In the1980s—
I forget the exact year—I was invited by Deendayal Research Institute,
headed by Nanaji Deshmukh, to give a series of lectures on my ideas of
environment and development. Lala Hansraj Gupta was in the chair. When
I came to say “Hinduism is no religion. It is a way of life”, I heard
an exclamation in endorsement: “Exactly. Those who talk of ‘Hindus,
Hindus’ but have no interest in the lives of Muslims are not genuine
Hindus.” The voice was Nanaji’s. I was pleasantly surprised because
Nanaji was a prominent RSS member and I did not expect this from an
RSS leader of his stature. Later I had many discussions with him, in
course of which I asked him: “Why don’t you tell your opinions to
Balasaheb Deoras?” He told me that he was writing down his viewpoints
but these would be published after his death. Presumably, he did not
want to annoy the RSS leadership for fear of their non-cooperation in
his other constructive activities at Gonda or Chitrakut.

I know some senior BJP leaders who would be happy if Hindutva is
dropped as the guiding principle. How long can the RSS keep such
people together under the banner of Hindutva? The slogan of Hindutva
does conjure up fear of “Hindu cultural domination” in the minds of
today’s non-Hindus, even if Hindu Rashtra is ruled out. Rationalising
has its limits.

If the RSS changes its archaic ideas and accepts Hindustaniyat as the
religio-confederal principle, it can play a much larger role on the
national horizon. During invasions by China and by Pakistan, its
volunteers played a very useful role in mobilising the people against
the invaders, and working as service providers to our military and
internal security forces. It also played a significant role in
regulating traffic and maintaining law and order even-handedly. In
recognition of this, the then Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri,
invited the RSS leadership to be a member of the National Security
Council. In times of violent attacks on the Sikhs following Indira
Gandhi’s assassination, it did laudable work in giving shelter and
succour to the Sikhs. Dr Hedgewar had links with Bengal’s legendary
revolutionary leader, Trailokya Nath Chakrabarty also known as
‘Maharaj’; and therefore, this nation’s hero, Subhas Chandra Bose, had
even thought of utilising the RSS’ organisational skill in raising a
nationalist volunteer force. During Jayaprakash Narayan’s anti-
corruption and anti-Emergency movements and Bihar flood relief, the
RSS had earned fulsome praise from JP.

Will the RSS let all this goodwill to be besmirched or lost by its
dogmatism and obsolete ideas? It needs to realise that its Hindutvavad
does stir up, among its unthinking followers—which is by far the
larger part—fanaticism, blind prejudices and hatred against all those
who now refuse to see themselves as “Hindus”. If the RSS did not
suffer from the Nelson’s eye syndrome, it would have seen that a large
section of the Dalits and even the Sikhs, who were once the vanguard
of saving the Hindus from forced conversion, do not now like to be
counted as Hindus.

The author is one of the country’s earliest environ-mentalists and a
social philosopher.

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1571.html

Mainstream Weekly

VOL XLV No 01

Sachar Committee Report : A Review
Tuesday 24 April 2007, by Anees Chishti

The report of the High-Level Committee appointed by the Prime Minister
under the chairmanship of Justice Rajindar Sachar, retired Chief
Justice of the Delhi High Court, to study the ‘Social, Economic and
Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India’, has been a
subject of wide discussion in the press, among parliamentarians and
other politicians as well as in other informed sections of the
society.

The seven-member Committee had as its members eminent personalities
like Sayid Hamid, former Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim
University and currently Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, Prof
T.K. Oommen, former Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and a
sociologist of world renown, among others. Dr. Abusaleh Shariff, Chief
Economist, National Council of Applied Economic Research, who is noted
for his perceptive research on various issues of national concern, was
the Member-Secretary. There was no woman member: surprising, as the
condition of women is very important for any survey of the social
scenario among the Muslims. And, the Committee has tried to look at
the predicament of the Muslim women in as good a manner as it could.

The Committee had several consultants from different disciplines and
had commissioned specialists on various aspects of the subject under
coverage to write papers for its use in its study of the complex
issues.

The Committee collected data from the various Censuses, the National
Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), banks and, of course, from the
Central and State Governments.

The members of the Committee visited different parts of the country to
assess the grassroots situation and grasp the realities by experience
rather than merely with the help of statistics brought to their desks
by investigators. The Committee tried to sift the perception of
members of the Muslim community (as well as of non-Muslims) and
understand the nature and magnitude of the community’s grievances, to
be able to judge the veracity or otherwise of the expressions of
negligence and deprivation.

Most of the grievances of the community are common knowledge and those
who have access to the Urdu press in different parts of the country
are fully aware of the endless stories of ‘woes’ and ‘miseries’ of the
community. But a systematic study of these grievances had to be made
and the Sachar Committee ventured to do that. We shall deal with the
grievances briefly later but, first, a review of the findings of the
Sachar Committee in different areas of its concern.

II

It would be appropriate to begin a survey of the Sachar Committee’s
findings with the fundamental issue of education. The literacy rate
for Muslims in 2001 was, according to the Committee’s findings, far
below the national average. The difference between the two rates was
greater in urban areas than in rural areas. For women, too, the gap
was greater in the urban areas.

When compared to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes the growth
in literacy for Muslims was lower than for the former. The female
urban enrolment in literacy ratio for the SCs/STs was 40 per cent in
1965 that rose to 83 per cent in 2001. The equivalent rate for Muslims—
that was considerably higher in 1965 (52 per cent)—recorded a figure
of 80 per cent, lower than the figure for the SCs / STs.

According to the Sachar Committee’s findings, 25 per cent of Muslim
children in the 6-14 age-group either never went to school or else
dropped out at some stage.

The disparity in Graduate Attainment Rates between Muslims and other
categories has been widening since the 1970s in urban and rural areas.
According to the Sachar Committee, only one out of 25 undergraduate
students and one out of 50 post-graduate students in ‘premier
colleges’ are Muslims. The percentage of graduates in poor households
pursuing post-graduate studies is significantly lower for Muslims:
Hindus General (29 per cent); SCs/STs (28 per cent); OBCs (23 per
cent); Muslims (16 per cent). The unemployment rate among Muslim
graduates is the highest among all Socio-Religious Categories (SRCs),
poor as well as non-poor.

In the midst of the widespread discussion about the role of madrasas
in the life of Muslims, it is interesting to note that only three per
cent of Muslim children go to madrasas.

Some figures of the Committee are very revealing, when the situation
of OBCs is considered. In education upto matriculation, graduation and
employment in the formal sector all OBCs lag behind in terms of the
all-India average. Muslim OBCs (that have been defined here a little
later) fall below the Hindu OBCs in all categories. And, General
Muslims fare the worst being behind both Hindu and Muslim OBCs.

An important cause for the low level of attainment of Muslims in
education is the dearth of facilities for teaching Urdu and other
subjects through the medium of Urdu (mother tongue) in lower classes,
the Committee points out. It cites the better examples of Karnataka
and Maharashtra in this context. These two States are much better
equipped with Urdu medium schools at the elementary level. Karnataka
has the additional feature of concurrent facilities for English medium
as well in a good number of schools, the Committee points out.

In an indirect reference to the utility of reservation, the Committee
says that the SCs/STs have reaped advantages of targeted government
and private efforts thereby pinpointing the importance of ‘affirmative
action’.

Employment

According to the findings of the Sachar Committee, Muslims have a
considerably lower representation in jobs in the government including
those in the Public Sector Undertakings compared to other SRCs.
According to these findings, in no State of the country the level of
Muslim employment is proportionate to their percentage in the
population.

It is pointed out that the situation of government jobs is the best in
Andhra Pradesh where a “fairly close” representation (in proportion to
the population) has been achieved. Other States with a better picture
of representation are: Karnataka (8.5 per cent job share in a
population proportion of 12.2 per cent); Gujarat (5.4 per cent against
9.1 per cent); Tamil Nadu (3.2 per cent against 5.6 per cent).

According to an analysis, in all other States, the percentage of
Muslims in government employment is half of their population
proportion. The highest percentage figure of government employment for
Muslims is in Assam (11.2 per cent) even though it is far less than
the State’s Muslim population (30.9 per cent).

The most glaring cases of Muslims’ deprivation in government jobs are
found in the States of West Bengal and Kerala where, according to
common perception, egalitarianism has been the cherished norm in all
walks of life. In West Bengal where almost 25 per cent population
practises the Muslim faith, their share in government jobs is a paltry
4.2 per cent. In Kerala the Muslim representation in government jobs
is 10.4 per cent, a figure that is short of half of their population
percentage. In Bihar and UP the percentages of Muslims in government
jobs are found to be less than a third of their population
percentages. Those governing these States need to monitor their
actions to bring the situation in conformity with their professed
objectives and claims.

There are some factors that need to be considered in view of the low
employment figures for Muslims on an all-India basis. The Sachar
Committee observes that the low aggregate work participation ratios
for Muslims are ‘essentially’ due to the much lower participation in
economic activity by the women of the community. Also, a large number
of Muslim women who are engaged in work do so from their homes rather
than in offices or factories. Their figure in this regard is 70 per
cent compared to the general figure of 51 per cent

There is a high share of Muslim workers in self-employment activity,
especially in urban areas and in the case of women, the Committee
points out. Whether this trend is due to compulsion or their non-
expectation for jobs in the government or non-government formal
sector, or due to their inclination for certain types of work that are
done best under a self-employment scheme, would be an important
subject for study. The fact has to be considered that Muslims in
regular jobs in urban areas are much lower in numbers compared to even
the SCs/STs. And, surprisingly, the Muslim regular workers get lower
daily earnings (salary) in public and private jobs compared to other
socio-religious categories, as the Committee points out.

The point that needs special notice is that, according to the
Committee’s findings, Muslim participation in professional and
management cadres is quite low. Their participation in security-
related activities (for example, in the Police services) is
considerably lower than their population share (four per cent
overall).

In the context of employment of Muslims at the level of the Central
Government, the Committee’s findings are very revealing. In the Civil
Services, Muslims are only three per cent in IAS, 1.8 per cent in IFS
and four per cent in IPS. (While the figures are shockingly low
compared to the population percentage, the fact also needs to be
considered that there were only 4.7 per cent Muslims among the
candidates at the Civil Services examinations in 2003-04. The figure
would be almost identical for other years.)

In the Railways, 4.5 per cent are Muslims and, significantly, ‘almost
all’ (98.7 per cent) are in low level positions. Are you listening,
Laloo Prasad Yadav?

Figures for other Departments are: Education 6.5 per cent, Home 7.3
per cent, Police Constables (for which no special educational
qualifications are required) six per cent.

Also to be considered is the finding that in the recent recruitments
by State Public Service Commissions, the employment of Muslims has
been as low as 2.1 per cent.

Minorities other than Muslims are not placed as delicately as the
Muslims. According to the Committee’s findings, 11 per cent of Group A
jobs are with minorities other than Muslims. Deprivation of Muslims in
the State judical set-up seems to be among the most worrying aspects
of their overall backwardness.

The data collected by the Committee in this sector are about all
levels of the officers and employees: Advocate Generals, District and
Sessions Judges, Additional District and Sessions Judges, Chief
Judicial Magistrates, Principal Judges, Munsifs, Public Prosecutors,
and Group A, B, C and D employees. The overall Muslim presence of 7.8
per cent in the area of judiciary in 12 States with high concentration
of Muslim population is considered very low by experts.

To come back to an old theme, in West Bengal with a Muslim population
of over 25 per cent, the figure of Muslims in ‘key positions’ in the
judiciary is only five per cent. In Assam with a Muslim population of
30.9 per cent, this figure is 9.4 per cent. Surprisingly, in Jammu and
Kashmir (where the Muslim population is 66.97 per cent), the
community’s share in the State judiciary is only 48.3 per cent. Andhra
Pradesh once again scores over other States in terms of equitable and
even more than equitable sharing of jobs: Muslims have a share of 12.4
per cent in the State judiciary against a population share of 9.2 per
cent.

Experts feel that for an inclusive democracy, an equitable share for
all sections of the society in the judiciary is essential: it creates
greater public confidence in the judicial process. It would be useful
to survey the situation in this regard in some other developing and
developed countries to be able to arrive at some remedial measures for
this crucial sector of decision-making.

Health and Population

Along with education and employment, health and population welfare are
the other areas that have to be assessed for estimating attainments of
any society. The Sachar Committee has done this exercise in a
comprehensive manner.

First, the overall population picture: According to the 2001 Census,
the Muslim population of India was 138 million (13.4 per cent of the
total population). This figure is estimated to have crossed the 150
million mark in 2006. According to the estimate cited by the
Committee, the share of the Muslim population would rise ‘somewhat’
and stabilise at just below 19 per cent in the next four decades (320
million Muslims in a total population of 1.7 billion). There are many
areas where the Muslim population is 50 per cent or more; and in nine
out of 593 districts (Lakshadweep and eight districts of Jammu and
Kashmir) the Muslim population is over 75 per cent.

On the positive side, the period 1991-2001 showed a decline in the
growth rate of Muslims in most States. According to the Committee’s
findings, the Muslim population shows an increasingly better sex ratio
compared to other Socio-Religious Categories. Infant mortality among
Muslims is slightly lower than the average. (It is beyond the
Committee’s understanding how Muslims should have a child survival
advantage despite lower levels of female schooling and economic
status.) Life expectancy in the community is slightly higher (by one
year) than the average, and this should again surprise many.

The Committee’s finding is important that the Muslim child has a
significantly greater risk of being underweight or stunted than is the
case with other Socio-Religious Categories: the risk of malnutrition
is also ‘slightly higher’ for Muslim children than for ‘Other Hindu’
children. This again seems to be a contradiction vis-à-vis the
reported child survival rate.

Economy

Related to the existing economic condition of Muslims is the issue of
providing legitimate support by state and private agencies for the
members of the community to improve their position. One would like to
examine the situation with regard to trends in the support system of
existing instruments. Banks have been seen as an important source of
credit to support citizens’ economic and commercial ventures. The
picture regarding bank loans to members of the minority is not bright,
according to the findings of the Sachar Committee. It says that the
share of Muslims in ‘amounts outstanding’ is only 4.7 per cent. This
figure is 6.5 per cent in the case of other minorities. Further, on an
average the amount outstanding per account for Muslims is about half
that of the other minorities and one-third of ‘others’.

The pity is that, according to the report, many areas of Muslim
concentration have been marked by many banks as ‘negative’ or ‘red’
zones where giving loans is not advisable. Something would, indeed,
have to be done to put an end to such blanket bans, particularly in
view of the Committee’s finding that very large numbers of Muslims are
engaged in self-employment ventures.

The Reserve Bank of India’s efforts at banking and credit facilities
under the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme for the welfare of
minorities have, according to the Committee’s findings, mainly
benefited minorities other than Muslims, thus “marginalising Muslims”.

Apart from the formal banking sector there are two other institutions
that are meant to extend loans to the disadvantaged for economic
ventures: the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation
(NMDFC) and National Backward Classes Finance and Development
Corporation (NBCFDC). For loans from the NMDFC, one has to obtain a
guarantee from the concerned State Government. According to the
Committee, this is the biggest hurdle in the processing of loan
applications. And members of minority communities are very adversely
affected due to this factor.

Poverty Factor

The Committee has found that substantially large proportion of Muslim
households in urban areas are in the less than Rs 500 expenditure
bracket. According to calculations mentioned in the Committee’s
report, using the Head Count Ratio (HCR), overall 22.7 per cent of
India’s population was poor in 2004-05. In absolute numbers, this
amounts to over 251 million people spread across India. The SCs/STs
together are the most poor with an HCR of 35 per cent followed by
Muslims who record the second highest incidence of poverty with 31 per
cent people below the poverty line. The H(indu)-General is the least
poor category with an HCR of only 8.7 per cent and the OBCs hold the
intermediary level HCR of 21 per cent, which is also close to the all-
India average.

The Committee has observed that the inequality is higher in urban
areas compared to rural areas in most States. It says that poverty
among Muslims is the highest in urban areas with an HCR of 38.4 per
cent. Significantly, the fall in poverty for Muslims, according to the
data provided to the Committee, has been “only modest during the
decade 1993-94 to 2004-05 in urban areas, whereas the decline in rural
areas has been substantial”. Poverty leads to neglect, or the other
way round: the Committee found a “significant inverse association”
between the proportion of Muslim population and educational and other
infrastructure in small villages. Areas of Muslim concentration are,
somehow, not well served with pucca approach roads and local bus
stops.

An analysis by the Committee showed a fall in the availability of
medical facilities with the rise in the proportion of Muslims,
especially in larger villages. A similar but sharper pattern can be
seen with respect to post/telegraph offices.

Affirmative Action

Under the existing constitutional provisions, affirmative action in
the form of reservation cannot be possible for the entire Muslim
community even though, according to the findings of the Sachar
Committee, the entire community has been left behind in terms of
education, employment and economic status. A way can be found to lift
a significant segment of the community’s population if social
stratification is defined and officially accepted within the Muslim
community. It could be done in case of Hindus, and subsequently for
Mazhabi Sikhs and neo-Buddhists in terms of caste demarcation. But it
would not be easy to have official acceptance of the caste principle.
The resistance against acceptance of social stratification on caste
lines among Muslims would come largely from the clerics and other
orthodox sections of the Muslim community itself which would be
adamant in its insistence that caste does not exist within the
community. This, even though the fact is that, whether one likes it or
not, the Muslim community is divided with caste demarcations almost on
the lines of the Hindus. A via media has to be found for a clearly
defined backward class like the OBCs among the majority community.

The Sachar Committee has talked of the issue of social stratification
among Muslims. It points out that the 1901 Census had listed 133
social groups, “wholly or partially Muslim”, in India. This
classification thus recognised the fact of social stratification in
the community. The Committee has identified different groups of
Muslims based on studies by sociologists. The community, according to
these studies, as mentioned by the Committee, is placed into

two broad categories , namely, ashraf and ajlaf. The former, meaning
‘noble’ (emphasis added), includes all Muslims of foreign blood and
converts from higher castes. While ajlaf, meaning ‘degraded’ (emphasis
added) or ‘unholy’, embraces the ‘ritually clean’ occupational groups
and low ranking converts. In Bihar, UP, Bengal, Sayyads, Sheikhs,
Moghuls and Pathans constitute the ashrafs, The ajlafs are carpenters,
artisans, painters, graziers, tanners, milkmen, etc. According to the
Census of 1901, the ajlaf category includes “the various classes of
converts who are known as Nao Muslim in Bihar and Nasya in Bengal. It
also includes various functional groups such as that of Jolaha or
weaver, Dhunia or cotton carder, Kulu or oil presser, Kunjra or
vegetable seller, Hajjam or barber, Darzi or tailor, and the like.”
The 1901 Census also recorded the presence of a third category called
Arzal: “It consists of the very lowest castes, such as Halalkhor,
Lalbegi, Abdal and Bedia.” The Committee has taken note of the fact
that the Presidential Order (1950), officially known as Constitutional
(Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, restricts the Scheduled Caste status
only to Hindu groups having “unclean” occupations. Their non-Hindu
equivalents have been bracketed with the “middle caste converts” and
declared OBCs.

The Committee has noted that at least 82 different social groups among
Muslims were declared OBCs by the Mandal Commission (1980). Owing to
this declaration many Muslim social groups got reservation in
different parts of the country under the Backward Classes category.
Only two States, Kerala and Karnataka, have provided reservation to
the State’s entire Muslim population (minus the creamy layer). The
roots of this policy have to be traced to the colonial days.

In Karnataka (the erstwhile princely state of Mysore), affirmative
action started in 1874 (with 80 per cent posts in the Police
Department having been reserved for non-Brahmins, Muslims and Indian
Christians). In Karnataka today, all Muslims with income of less than
Rs 2 lakhs per annum enjoy four per cent reservation in jobs and
admission to institutions in the category of ‘More Backwards’. In
Kerala Muslims enjoy 12 per cent reservation, with some other
communities and social groups too being provided reservation.

Tamil Nadu, which had a tradition of reservation to Muslims since
1872, withdrew such reservation following independence. Currently even
though there is no reservation in the State on the basis of religion,
nearly 95 per cent Muslims have been provided reservation as Backward
Classes, according to the data provided by the State Government to the
Sachar Committee. Significantly enough, reservations in Tamil Nadu
stand at 69 per cent, much above the limit of 50 per cent fixed by the
Supreme Court. Looking at the state of public employment for OBCs the
Committee found that unemployment rates were the highest among Muslim
OBCs when compared to Hindu OBCs and Muslims General. In the formal
sector (government/PSUs), the share of Muslim OBCs was much lower than
those of Hindu OBCs and Muslims General.

At the workers’ level, the Committee estimated that out of every
hundred workers about eleven were Hindu OBCs, three were Muslims
General and only one was a Muslim OBC.

The Committee had divided public employment into six ‘agencies’ of the
Central Government including PSUs and universities. It found that the
Hindu OBCs were under-represented. But their under-representation was
less than that of Muslim OBCs in five out of the six agencies, less
than that of Muslims General in three out of the six agencies. In the
State services the Committee found that Muslim OBCs had a better share
at the Group A level, but their presence was insignificant at other
levels.

In the context of Muslim OBCs, the Committee concluded that the
abysmally low representation of Muslim OBCs suggests that the benefits
of entitlements meant for the Backward Classes are yet to reach them.
The Committee also concluded that “the conditions of Muslims General
are also lower than the Hindu-OBCs who have the benefits of
reservations”.

III

While the Sachar Committee has done a laudable job of assembling a
huge body of data and presenting it in an easily digestible manner, it
has not been as meticulous in formulating its recommendations. Perhaps
it was due to the fatigue after an enormous amount of legwork on a
national scale and the subsequent analysis of the compiled information
that its members had to do in about 15 months of actual work, coupled
with the desire of submitting its report rather urgently and the fact
that much of the information about its findings had already been
accessed by a section of the press. In view of the mind-boggling
findings and the very sensitive nature of the ground it was traversing
a very comprehensive matrix of recommendations should have been
presented by an able and competent panel blending experience and fresh
thinking. Unfortunately this could not be achieved by the Committee.
The most important recommendations of the Committee can be summarised
as under:

• Creation of a National Data Bank (NDB) where relevant data about
different socio-religious communities could be stored to facilitate
any study and subsequent action.

• Setting up of an autonomous Assessment and Monitoring Authority
(AMA) for a regular audit of the benefits of different programmes of
the government reaching the concerned communities or groups.

• Establishing an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to examine and
analyse the grievances of deprived groups, the inspiration
understandably for it coming from the Race Relations Act, 1976 of the
United Kingdom that finds mention in the Committee’s recommendation.

• Exploring the idea of introducing some incentives to a ‘Diversity
Index’ in the realms of education, government, and private employment
and housing programmes. Special mention has been made of a possible
programme of incentives to colleges and institutions under the
University Grants Commission linked to diversity in the student
population.

• Evolving some sort of a ‘nomination’ procedure for enhancing the
levels of inclusiveness in governance.

• Certain measures like removal of anomalies in Reserved
Constituencies for General Elections against complaints of declaring
Muslim concentration areas as SC/ST reserved seats.

• Institutionalising evaluation procedures for textbooks, alternate
admission criteria in regular universities and autonomous colleges;
cost friendly reasonable hostel facilities for minority students as a
priority; making teacher training oriented to ideals of pluralism;
state-run Urdu medium schools for primary education in mother tongue;
ensuring appointment of experts from minority community on interview
panels and boards; linking madrasas with higher secondary schools
facilitating shift of students who might opt for a mainstream
education system after a few years; recognition of degrees from
madrasas for competitive examinations (a recommendation hard to find
acceptance in any section of concerned quarters); on the economic
front, provision of financial and other support to initiatives built
around occupations where Muslims are concentrated and that have growth
potential.

The above suggestions have given considerable food for thought with
regard to the panacea for deprivation of the Muslim community in
various spheres. But a more comprehensive and concrete programme
should have been suggested by the Committee.

This task could have been performed best by the able members of this
panel who had travelled far and wide and acquainted themselves with
the grassroots realities rather than leaving it for another possible
committee for a start from a scratch. This was essential to get action
initiated on the basis of its findings instead of letting this venture
too meet the fate of the earlier Gopal Singh Committee over two
decades ago that had similar findings (although it had a narrower
coverage than the Sachar Committee). Now it is for the Prime Minister
and his government to decide the future course of action to remedy the
situation regarding the travails of the Muslim community.

IV

Much of the Sachar Committee’s endeavour was in pursuance of the
perception among Muslims of utter neglect and apathy, and even
suspicion, towards the Muslim community on the part of governmental
agencies—right or wrong! An oft-repeated remark by many members of the
community was that Muslims carried a double burden of being labelled
as ‘anti-national’ and as being ‘appeased’ at the same time. Or,
whenever any act of violence or terror occurs Muslim boys are picked
up by the police. “Every bearded man is considered an ISI agent,” the
Committee has quoted someone as saying. It was also pointed out that
“social boycott of Muslims in certain parts of the country have forced
them to migrate from places where they lived for centuries.”

The Committee has also observed that identification of Urdu as a
Muslim language and its politicisation has complicated matters. A
worrying observation is that Muslims do not see education as
necessarily translating into formal employment. And, many a time
madrasas are the only educational option for Muslims.

On the economic front, the Committee observes that liberalisation of
the economy has resulted in displacement of Muslims from their
traditional occupations, thus depriving them of their livelihood.

The Committee has reported that there were many complaints of Muslims’
names missing from electoral rolls. It could not look into the
veracity or otherwise of this complaint. But what the Committee found
in case of complaints that a number of Muslim concentration Assembly
constituencies are declared as ‘reserved’ seats for the SCs
(deliberately?) should certainly worry those involved with the work of
delimitation of constituencies. Its analysis of reserved
constituencies for SCs in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal proved
that there was truth in the allegation of the members of the minority
community in this regard.

With the perception of Muslims not being quite favourable to official
agencies, the revelation of the findings of the Sachar Committee with
regard to over-representation of the community in the country’s
prisons, reported (before the submission of its report to the Prime
Minister) by The Indian Express, in its series of reports entitled
‘The Missing Muslim’, created a sensation. The Urdu press was on fire
and questions were asked why prisons were the only place where Muslims
were over-represented compared to all other communities and in some
cases their representation being much higher than their population
proportion.

In Maharashtra, the percentage of Muslim jail inmates in all
categories was found to be way above their share in the population
(share in population: 10.6 per cent; share in prison inmates: 17.5 per
cent). In Gujarat the position was: share in population: 9.06 per
cent; share in jail inmates: over 25 per cent). The situation was on
similar lines in other States too although the jail inmate share might
not be as bad in other States as in the States mentioned above.

Following the submission of the report to the Prime Minister, The
Indian Express reported that the data with regard to prisons were
edited out of the Sachar report, following the concern expressed on
these figures in different quarters. Some observers felt that the
prison figures should not have been omitted, as they would have given
a clear picture of some of the Muslim grievances with regard to the
more sensitive issues.

The remedy for the travails of the Muslim community can be found
largely by the community’s bolder initiatives in the field of
education that would empower them as nothing else would.

The government, on its part, seems to be ready for whatever remedial
measures can be adopted by its different agencies. The recent
initiative taken by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rehman
Khan, to arrive at a consensus for action on an all-party basis,
through a conclave of Muslim MPs (including some from the Bharatiya
Janata Party, which has been very critical of the very appointment of
the Sachar Committee), seems to be a significant one. One only hopes
that such an initiative would have the support of the government and
some concrete steps would be taken without much delay.

http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article95.html

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

India

James Heitzman and Robert L. Worden, editors. India: A Country Study.
Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1995.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank individuals in various agencies of the
Indian and United States governments and private institutions who gave
their time, research materials, and special knowledge to provide
information and perspective. These individuals include Hardeep Puri,
Joint Secretary (America) of the Ministry of External Affairs;
Madhukar Gupta, Joint Secretary (Kashmir) of the Ministry of Home
Affairs; Bimla Bhalla, Director General of Advertising and Visual
Publications, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Amulya Ratna
Nanda, Registrar General of India; Ashok Jain, director of the
National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies; T.
Vishwanthan, director of the Indian National Scientific Documentation
Centre; G.P. Phondke, director of the Publications and Information
Directorate of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research; Air
Commander Jasjit Singh, director of the Institute for Defence Studies
and Analyses; G. Madhavan, deputy executive secretary of the Indian
Academy of Sciences; Sivaraj Ramaseshan, distinguished emeritus
professor, Raman Research Institute; H.S. Nagaraja, public relations
officer of the Indian Institute of Science; Virendra Singh, director
of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Bhabani Sen Gupta of
the Centre for Policy Research; Pradeep Mehendiratta, Vice President
and Executive Director, Indian Institute of American Studies; and
Richard J. Crites, Chat Blakeman, Peter L.M. Heydemann, and Marcia
S.B. Bernicat of the United States Embassy in New Delhi. Special
thanks go to Lygia M. Ballantyne, director, and Alice Kniskern, deputy
director, and the staff of the Library of Congress New Delhi Field
Office, particularly Atish Chatterjee, for supplying bounteous amounts
of valuable research materials on India and arranging interviews of
Indian government officials.

Appreciation is also extended to Ralph K. Benesch, who formerly
oversaw the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program for the Department
of the Army, and to the desk officers in the Department of State and
the Department of the Army who reviewed the chapters. Thanks also are
offered to William A. Blanpied, Mavis Bowen, Ainslie T. Embree, Jerome
Jacobson, Suzanne Hanchett, Barbara Leitch LePoer, Owen M. Lynch, and
Sunalini Nayudu, who either assisted with substantive information or
read parts of the manuscript or did both.

The authors also wish to thank those who contributed directly to the
preparation of the manuscript. They include Sandra W. Meditz, who
reviewed all textual and graphic materials, served as liaison with the
Department of the Army, and provided numerous substantive and
technical contributions; Sheila Ross, who edited the chapters; Andrea
T. Merrill, who edited the tables and figures; Marilyn Majeska, who
supervised editing and managed production; Alberta Jones King, who
assisted with research, making wordprocessing corrections to various
versions of the manuscript, and proofreading; Barbara Edgerton and
Izella Watson, who performed the final wordprocessing; Marla D.
Woodson, who assisted with proofreading; and Janie L. Gilchrist, David
P. Cabitto, Barbara Edgerton, and Izella Watson, who prepared the
camera-ready copy. Catherine Schwartzstein performed the final
prepublication editorial review, and Joan C. Cook compiled the index.

Graphics support was provided by David P. Cabitto, who oversaw the
production of maps and graphics and, with the assistance of Wayne
Horne, designed the cover and the illustrations on the chapter title
pages; and Harriet Blood and Maryland Mapping and Graphics, who
assisted in the preparation of the maps and charts. Thanks also go to
Gary L. Fitzpatrick and Christine M. Anderson, of the Library of
Congress Geography and Map Division, for assistance in preparing early
map drafts. A very special thank you goes to Janice L. Hyde, who did
the research on and selection of cover and title-page illustrations
and photographs, translated some of the photograph captions and
textual references, and helped the editors on numerous matters of
substance and analysis. Shantha S. Murthy of the Library of Congress
Serial Record Division provided Indian language assistance. Clarence
Maloney helped identify the subjects of some of the photographs.

Finally the authors acknowledge the generosity of individ-uals and
public and private organizations who allowed their photographs to be
used in this study. They have been acknowledged in the illustration
captions.

http://countrystudies.us/india/1.htm

Preface

This edition supersedes the fourth edition of India: A Country Study ,
published in 1985 under the editorship of Richard F. Nyrop. The new
edition provides updated information on the world's second most
populous and fastest-growing nation. Although much of India's
traditional behavior and organizational dynamics reported in 1985 have
remained the same, internal and regional events have continued to
shape Indian domestic and international policies.

To the extent possible, place-names used in the text conform to the
United States Board on Geographic Names, but equal weight has been
given to spellings provided by the official Survey of India.
Measurements are given in the metric system.

The body of the text reflects information available as of September 1,
1995. Certain other portions of the text, however, have been updated.
The Bibliography lists published sources thought to be particularly
helpful to the reader.

http://countrystudies.us/india/2.htm

History

THOSE "WHO WEAR COTTON CLOTHES, use the decimal system, enjoy the
taste of [curried] chicken, play chess, or roll dice, and seek peace
of mind or tranquility through meditation," writes historian Stanley
Wolpert, "are indebted to India." India's deep-rooted civilization may
appear exotic or even inscrutable to casual foreign observers, but a
perceptive individual can see its evolution, shaped by a wide range of
factors: extreme climatic conditions, a bewildering diversity of
people, a host of competing political overlords (both local and
outsiders), enduring religious and philosophical beliefs, and complex
linguistic and literary developments that led to the flowering of
regional and pan-Indian culture during the last three millennia. The
interplay among a variety of political and socioeconomic forces has
created a complex amalgam of cultures that continue amidst conflict,
compromise, and adaptation. "Wherever we turn," says Wolpert, "we
find . . . palaces, temples, mosques, Victorian railroad stations,
Buddhist stupas, Mauryan pillars; each century has its unique
testaments, often standing incongruously close to ruins of another
era, sometimes juxtaposed one atop another, much like the ruins of
Rome, or Bath."

India's "great cycle of history," as Professor Hugh Tinker put it,
entails repeating themes that continue to add complexity and diversity
to the cultural matrix. Throughout its history, India has undergone
innumerable episodes involving military conquests and integration,
cultural infusion and assimilation, political unification and
fragmentation, religious toleration and conflict, and communal harmony
and violence. A few other regions in the world also can claim such a
vast and differentiated historical experience, but Indian civilization
seems to have endured the trials of time the longest. India has proven
its remarkable resilience and its innate ability to reconcile opposing
elements from many indigenous and foreign cultures. Unlike the West,
where modern political developments and industrialization have created
a more secular worldview with redefined roles and values for
individuals and families, India remains largely a traditional society,
in which change seems only superficial. Although India is the world's
largest democracy and the seventh-most industrialized country in the
world, the underpinnings of India's civilization stem primarily from
its own social structure, religious beliefs, philosophical outlook,
and cultural values. The continuity of those time-honed traditional
ways of life has provided unique and fascinating patterns in the
tapestry of contemporary Indian civilization.

http://countrystudies.us/india/3.htm

Harappan Culture
http://countrystudies.us/india/4.htm
Vedic Aryans
http://countrystudies.us/india/5.htm
Kingdoms and Empires
http://countrystudies.us/india/6.htm
The Mauryan Empire
http://countrystudies.us/india/7.htm
The Deccan and the South
http://countrystudies.us/india/8.htm
Gupta and Harsha
http://countrystudies.us/india/9.htm
The Coming of Islam
http://countrystudies.us/india/10.htm
Southern Dynasties
http://countrystudies.us/india/11.htm
The Mughals
http://countrystudies.us/india/12.htm
The Marathas
http://countrystudies.us/india/13.htm
The Sikhs
http://countrystudies.us/india/14.htm
The Coming of the Europeans
http://countrystudies.us/india/15.htm
The British Empire in India
http://countrystudies.us/india/16.htm
Company Rule, 1757-1857
http://countrystudies.us/india/16.htm
The British Raj, 1858-1947
http://countrystudies.us/india/17.htm
Sepoy Rebellion, 1857-59
http://countrystudies.us/india/17.htm
After the Sepoy Rebellion
http://countrystudies.us/india/18.htm
The Independence Movement
http://countrystudies.us/india/19.htm
Mahatma Gandhi
http://countrystudies.us/india/20.htm
Political Impasse and Independence
http://countrystudies.us/india/21.htm
Independent India
http://countrystudies.us/india/24.htm
National Integration
http://countrystudies.us/india/22.htm
Jawaharlal Nehru
http://countrystudies.us/india/23.htm
Indira Gandhi
http://countrystudies.us/india/24.htm
Rajiv Gandhi
http://countrystudies.us/india/25.htm

Geography and Demographics

Geography

Coasts and Borders
Rivers
Climate
Earthquakes
Population
Population Projections
Population and Family Planning Policy
Health Conditions
http://countrystudies.us/india/35.htm
Health Care
Education
http://countrystudies.us/india/37.htm

Religion

The Vedas and Polytheism
http://countrystudies.us/india/39.htm
Karma and Liberation
Jainism
http://countrystudies.us/india/41.htm
Buddhism
http://countrystudies.us/india/42.htm
The Worship of Personal Gods
http://countrystudies.us/india/43.htm
Vishnu
Shiva
Brahma and the Hindu Trinity
The Goddess
http://countrystudies.us/india/47.htm
Local Deities
http://countrystudies.us/india/48.htm
The Ceremonies of Hinduism
Domestic Worship
Life-Cycle Rituals
Temples
Pilgrimage
Festivals
Islam
http://countrystudies.us/india/55.htm
Sikhism
http://countrystudies.us/india/56.htm
Tribal Religions
http://countrystudies.us/india/57.htm
Christianity
http://countrystudies.us/india/58.htm
Zoroastrianism
http://countrystudies.us/india/59.htm
Judaism
http://countrystudies.us/india/60.htm
Modern Changes in Religion
http://countrystudies.us/india/61.htm

Language, Ethnicity, and Regionalism

Linguistic Relations
Diversity, Use, and Policy
Languages of India
Hindi and English
Hindi
English
Linguistic States
The Social Context of Language
http://countrystudies.us/india/69.htm
Tribes
http://countrystudies.us/india/70.htm
Jews and Parsis
http://countrystudies.us/india/71.htm
Portuguese
http://countrystudies.us/india/72.htm
Anglo-Indians
http://countrystudies.us/india/73.htm
Africans
http://countrystudies.us/india/74.htm
Regionalism
http://countrystudies.us/india/75.htm
Telangana Movement

Jharkhand Movement
http://countrystudies.us/india/76.htm
Uttarakhand
http://countrystudies.us/india/77.htm
Gorkhaland
http://countrystudies.us/india/78.htm
Ladakh
http://countrystudies.us/india/79.htm
The Northeast
http://countrystudies.us/india/80.htm

Society

Themes in Indian Society
Family
Veiling and the Seclusion of Women
Life Passages
Children and Childhood
Marriage
Adulthood
Death and Beyond
Caste and Class
The Village Community
Urban Life

The Economy

Structure of the Economy
The Role of Government
Labor
Industry
Government Policies
Manufacturing
Energy
Mining and Quarrying
Tourism
Science and Technology
Agriculture
Crops
The Green Revolution
Livestock and Poultry
Forestry
Fishing

Government and Politics

The Constitution
Politics
The Congress
Opposition Parties
Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rise of Hindu Nationalism
http://countrystudies.us/india/113.htm
Communist Parties
Regional Parties
Caste-Based Parties
http://countrystudies.us/india/116.htm
Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir
http://countrystudies.us/india/117.htm
Hindu-Muslim Tensions
http://countrystudies.us/india/118.htm
Corruption
http://countrystudies.us/india/119.htm
The Media
The Rise of Civil Society

Foreign Relations

Pakistan
http://countrystudies.us/india/123.htm
Bangladesh
http://countrystudies.us/india/124.htm
Sri Lanka
http://countrystudies.us/india/125.htm
Nepal
http://countrystudies.us/india/126.htm
Bhutan
http://countrystudies.us/india/127.htm
Maldives
China
http://countrystudies.us/india/129.htm
Southeast Asia
Middle East
http://countrystudies.us/india/131.htm
Central Asia
Russia
http://countrystudies.us/india/133.htm
United States
http://countrystudies.us/india/134.htm
Britain, Australia, Canada, Western Europe, and Japan
United Nations

Bibliography

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FOCUS GROUP ASIAN SUBCONTINENT:

Muslim-Hindu Relations in India

Beside being one of the most populous nations in the world, India is
also one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse. Islam and
Hinduism are the main religions in India, however, and the two have
had a very long and sometimes violent coexistence. After the British
left India in 1947, in particular, the continent split into the
nations of the Muslim Pakistan and a majority-Hindu India in a violent
partition which cost the lives of approximately one million people and
dislocation of no fewer than eleven million.

Since 1947 India and Pakistan have fought three wars with each other
since then; and violence between Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims in India
itself have also been bitter and violent. The secular regime in
democratic India that Mahatmas Gandhi help establish in 1947 professes
to be one country for all Indians, no matter their religion; but
enmity between religions continues to plague India. The tide of Hindu
communalism continues to roll across the Indian subcontinent, and with
a literacy rate of just 30% and horrific poverty India's democracy
faces strong challenges in the future. Combine that with the
conflicts in Kashmir with Pakistan and the proliferation of nuclear
weapons in the area, and the situation is particularly dangerous.

Questions to keep in mind: What historical events in history
contribute to present day bad feelings between Muslims and Hindus on
the Asian subcontinent? What are the wars, conflicts, rivalries that
Muslims and Hindus have suffered between them? What was the influence
of the life and death of Mohandas Gandhi? How many Muslims are there
compared to Hindus and Sikhs in present day India? What conflicts
have arisen on sites considered "holy" by both Muslims and Hindus?

RESOURCES:

At Yahoo! check out the following categories: Indian history in
general, India by time period, and Mohandas Gandhi. Also check out
this excellent CNN perspective on India and Pakistan: 50 Years of
Independence. This is also an excellent article about Indian and the
recent elections there.

Check out these links also: Redif India Online, Discover India, India
Express, Hello India!, India Review, Inet India, and India on
Internet.

Check out these official Indian government pages: Indian Parliament
Home Page, and The President of India.

This is a cool link about Hindu vs. Muslim values in India. This is
also good. Read this article about tensions between Indian Muslims
and Hindu nationalists.

Check out the below NPR radio broadcasts to get an in-depth analysis
of events:

India-Pakistan: Tit for Tat
Tensions rise anew with the shooting down of a Pakistani military
plane and a reported retaliatory missile firing (8/23/99)

CNN broadcasts: Pakistan/India Partition, India/Pakistan at 50, India
Acquires Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan Nuclear Weapons, India Hindu-Muslm
Tensions, India Diverse Country (good link!)

http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/India/Arts_and_Humanities/Humanities/History/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/India/Arts_and_Humanities/Humanities/History/By_Time_Period/

INDIA ELECTION '98

March 4 1998
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript

Leaders of a Hindu nationalist party are demanding the right to form
India's next government after nearly complete election returns show
the party winning the most seats in the parliament. But conflicting
claims have led to bitterness and confusion. Fred de Sam Lazaro has
this report on the party's rise to power.

A RealAudio version of this segment is available.

http://www.rjgeib.com/biography/milken/crescent-moon/asian-subcontient/hindu-islam-history/hindu-islam.html

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Ramesh Chand Thomar has served in India's
parliament since 1991, representing a semi-rural district in the
Northern, Uttar Pradesh province. He began this campaign day with a
stop at a Hindu temple, part of a routine that emphasizes the central
theme of his BJP or India People's Party. Called Hindutva, the slogan
has few specifics but declares India "a nation of Hindu values." He
insists this does not violate the secular democratic tradition of
Mahatma Gandhi, on which the nation was founded. Thomar says it simply
calls on Indians to be patriotic.

RAMESH CHAND THOMAR: Indian must think first of India, the development
of India, the prosperity of India, we like that. The people are living
here and they are thinking about other countries.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: What other countries specifically?

RAMESH CHAND THOMAR: Neighboring countries, whatever they have in
their mind, I cannot say.

BJP strategy: anti-muslim rhetoric?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The BJP's critics say that's code language aimed
at India's Muslim minority. They are often accused of being loyal to
Pakistan, India's Islamic neighbor and adversary in three wars,
according to Syed Shahabuddin, a former member of parliament and
publisher of a journal called Muslim India.

SYED SHAHABUDDIN, Publisher, Muslim India: This is precisely their
method of trying to undo, or rather to do a minority out of its due
share. Point one, look, he's the enemy, he is the other, he is the
enemy, he is the adversary, he's with them; he's the fifth columnist.
He's at the beck and call of Pakistan. And Pakistan, of course, you
know, is always leaving difficult responsibilities against us. And
this is how you create a miasma of fear, and that is how you create
distrust. That is how you inject poison into the body politic of this
country, and that is how you create an atmosphere in which any amount
of violence can take place.

Religious tensions become political issues.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Critics blame the BJP for trying to reignite
religious tensions that date back centuries. In the early 1990's, the
party led a campaign to remove a 16th century mosque, called Babri
Masjid, and replace it with a Hindu temple. They claimed India's
Muslim conquerors built it in a sacred spot; the birthplace of the
Hindu God Rama. Murali Manohar Joshi, a BJP leader, explained the
campaign to foreign reporters.

MURALI MANOHAR JOSHI: If Hitler would have been victorious in the
second world war and there would have been a statue of Hitler in
Trafalgar Square, and in 1990 the Britishers would have been liberated
from Hitler's yoke, what would they have done to that statue of
Hitler?

The ruling party faces voter resentment.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In 1992, rioters stormed the mosque called Babri
Masjid and razed it. The incident sparked violent clashes that claimed
dozens of Hindu and Muslim lives, and for a while, it seemed to
alienate many voters from the BJP, but political observers say it also
hurt the ruling Congress Party government, which was criticized for
not cracking down on the rioters. At the same time, the Congress
government, which had ruled India almost uninterrupted for four
decades, began to face increasing voter resentment for policies that
failed to deliver even basic amenities. It's frustration that's still
very much in evidence.

MAN: (speaking through interpreter) Take a look at the condition of
our village. Do you see any water taps? We have to go two kilometers
to get water, and we still get water from an open well.

TEACHER: (speaking through interpreter) The minister came here, he
promised to expand this school. We're still waiting. We only go to the
fifth grade. I'd love to see kids go to the eighth.

SECOND MAN: (speaking through interpreter) When it comes time for our
votes, they say they'll do this, they'll do that, in the end they
don't do anything.

THIRD MAN: (speaking through interpreter) The Congress Party has been
in power for a long time. They haven't done anything for the poor, the
lower castes.

The Congress Party faces allegations of corruption.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Perhaps the biggest reason for the Congress
Party's fall from grace were allegations of widespread corruption.
It's an issue the BJP has seized. A BJP promise to clean up politics
has struck a responsive chord, even among some Congress Party members,
like Colonel Ram Singh.

COLONEL RAM SINGH: I really got so disgusted. Every minister, barring
four or five of us, there is about 65, every minister was looting the
country literally with both hands, and it was shameful.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Singh, who ran for parliament this time as a BJP
candidate, believes his adopted party is divorcing itself from its
extremist past.

COLONEL RAM SINGH: I think that is gradually being removed. I mean, my
total outlook has always been, and will always be that every religion
should have equal place, equal rights, and they should be no
persecution of anybody on religious grounds.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Singh describes himself as a moderating force in
the BJP and the party has gone out of its way to tone down its
Hindutva rhetoric, according to H. K. Dua, editor of the Times of
India.

H. K. DUA, Editor, The Times of India: They are trying to project more
a centrist party, keen to do the business of the state, taking the
others along, than the kind of image they had tried to project
earlier. Possibly they are seeing it's politically necessary. They
won't be able to come to power if they are taking an extreme position.
So there is a definite attempt to demarcate themselves from the old--
the old Hindu image. But they're doing it softly, lest they may lose
their old constituency.

RAMESH THOMAR: India is a secular country, and it will remain always
secular.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Hard-line BJP candidates, like Ramesh Thomar,
insist they're committed to freedom for all religions, but at the same
time, Thomar says a temple must be built at the site of the demolished
Babri mosque.

RAMESH THOMAR: Construction of the temple is the permanent solution,
and most of the Muslim people also wants that the temple of Rama in
Ayodhya that should be constructed.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: So you would like to see a temple constructed
in--

RAMESH THOMAR: Must, must, must.

Which party will control the future of India?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Election results show the BJP won the most seats
in parliament but not the majority needed to form a government. Its
position on the temple and other issues will be the subject of intense
and difficult negotiations as it seeks coalition partners. Kuldi
Nayyar is a columnist and former diplomat.

KULDIP NAYYAR, Columnist: The roots of tolerance, the roots of secular
polity, the roots of sense of accommodation are very deep, because
even last time, they tried their best to get others to join them.
Fourteen, fifteen parties came together to keep them away because
these people represent a philosophy or an ideology which is alien to
this country.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Opposing the BJP in the race to form a coalition
government is the once dominant Congress Party, whose campaign was led
by a woman with India's best-known political name, Sonia Gandhi. It
finished a distant second and will try to team with a group of smaller
parties called the United Front to stop the Hindu Nationalists.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june98/india_3-4.html

http://www.rjgeib.com/biography/milken/crescent-moon/asian-subcontient/hindu-islam-history/hindu-islam.html

...and I am Sid Harth

[and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)]

Forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman

Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard; Gujarat and Arab ships

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Foraminifera as tool in Marine Archaeology

Rajiv Nigam
National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa-403 004
Email: ***@nio.org <***@nio.org>

Foraminifera are preferentially marine micro organisms and very
sensitive to the slightest changes in environment. Because of this
property, they have been used extensively in pollution monitoring and
because of their fossilization potential, in paleoclimatic
reconstructions.

Since the common aim of paleoclimatic studies and archaeology lies in
the illumination of the past, particularly beyond the written
history, it is apparent to bring coherence between the two.

Number of attempts have been made to understand the distribution and
ecology of foraminifera along the western continental margin of India
to confirm the climatic inferences drawn through archaeological
studies and even to offer explanations for some of the archaeological
controversies peculiar to Indian region.

Application of foraminifera in the field of Marine Archaeology can be
classified into two main categories i.e. (i) event related to sea
level fluctuations and (ii) changes in paleoprecipitational history.
Few examples can be cited here to exhibit applicability of
foraminifera in archaeology. With the help of foraminiferal
occurrence it was conclusively proved that the rectangular structure
at Lothal (Harappan Settlement) was a dockyard (first Naval dock
yard) of the world as claimed by archaeologists) and not a fresh
water storage tank. The studies also provided support for
archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC. The
updated sea level curve for the Arabian Sea region helped to offer
explanation of the most recent finding of the Neolithic settlements
in the Gulf of Cambay area, Gujarat.

http://www.nio.org/index.php?option=com_eventdisplay&task=view&tid=4&id=30

Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard

Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN,
Feb 25, 2010, 07.11am IST

Ahmedabad: About 75 km from here lies a landmark of Indian maritime
history. Archaeologists believe the first tidal dockyard in the world
was built in Lothal. A port city, Lothal was the focal point of
Harappan civilisation in Gujarat.

Built here was the earliest known dock in the world, equipped to
berth and service ships. Lothal engineers studied tidal movements and
their effects on brick-built structures and constructed kiln-burnt
brick walls.

In a paper 'Foraminifera As Tool In Marine Archaeology', Rajiv Nigam
of National Institute of Oceanography states: "With the help of
foraminiferal occurrence it was conclusively proved that the
rectangular structure at Lothal, Harappan settlement, was a dockyard
-- first naval dockyard of the world as claimed by archaeologists --
and not a fresh water storage tank. The studies also provided support
for archaeological inference about great floods at 2000 and 1500 BC."

Archaeologist S R Rao, who excavated Lothal site, writes, "Lothal
dockyard had features which in terms of height, width, and length
compared favourably with the modern dockyards of Bombay and
Visakhapatnam."

Boats of 60-75 tonnes capacity and 20-25 metres in length could enter
Lothal dock, which was designed in such a manner as to ensure
berthing 20-30 boats of a fairly large size. Large foreign and Indian
ships could enter the harbour without any difficulty.

The Harappan merchants and navigators were familiar with Indian Ocean
routes and overseas markets. In those days, Gujaratis traded with
countries like Iraq (Mesopotamia), Qatar, Persia and Egypt.

"The brick-laid docks, wharfs, jetties and warehouses provided
infrastructure facilities to the inland and maritime trade, while
bullock-carts provided transportation. Add to this the Harappans'
knowledge of weight and measures, which enabled customs officials to
count and collect revenues from imports and exports, and we get
glimpses of an administrative set-up of considerable sophistication,"
writes historian Makrand Mehta in 'History of International Trade And
Customs Duties In Gujarat'.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-worlds-first-naval-dockyard/articleshow/5614022.cms

Gujarat built mosques to draw Arab ships

Ashish Vashi & Harit Mehta, TNN, Feb 17, 2010, 05.45am IST

Ahmedabad: Can you imagine a non-Muslim building a mosque in 21st
century India? May sound impossible today. But, two far-sighted Jains
built one of the earliest mosques in Gujarat, a state that has seen
some of the worst post-independence communal riots.

And, all this for the sake of business. Between 1178 and 1242,
Vastupal and Sheth Jagdusha built mosques in Cambay and Bhadreshwar
in Kutch to attract Arab and Turkish traders, who would bring in
foreign exchange. While Vastupal was the commissioner of Cambay port,
Jagdusha was a merchant of Bhadreshwar port in Kutch. Jains have been
an important business community from the earliest time till today.

'History of International Trade And Customs Duties In Gujarat', a
book by historian Makrand Mehta, says Vastupal encouraged Muslims to
settle down in Cambay and Anhilwad Patan, the capital of the Solanki-
Vaghela rulers of Gujarat.

The accounts of Arab travellers like Masudi Istakhari Ibn Hauqal and
others, who visited Gujarat between the 9th and 12th centuries, amply
testify to the settlements of Muslims in Cambay and other cities of
Gujarat.

"But the Muslims settlements could hardly have developed without the
support of the Solanki rulers. In fact, they attracted the Arabs and
Persians to Cambay and Vastupal did it by constructing mosques for
them," says Mehta.

Jagdusha was not officially designated as a customs collector but he
had cultivated excellent relations with ship captains and customs
staff. Although a devout Jain, as a staunch businessman he understood
the value of foreign exchange. "For this reason he also constructed a
mosque in Bhadreshwar, his hometown," according to the book.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-built-mosques-to-draw-Arab-ships/articleshow/5582255.cms

End of forwarded message from S. Kalyanaraman

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

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[Sid Harth]

Caste murder at AIIMS
05Mar10

Dr Singh reporting from AIIMS;

Dear friends,

It its very unfortunate to start with the incident happened at AIIMS
regarding the suicide of my junior Balmukund bharti a 2004 batch
student of MBBS at AIIMS on 3rd March 2010 but I see this as a very
alarming situation because every time such incident happens same line
of remarks come from Administration whether it is AIIMS , CSMMU
Lucknow or any other medical college;

1.The said student was not able to cope with the amount of pressure at
the institute , he was consistently failing in particular field , he
was depressed but in all their explanation for the cause of death
they miserably fail on explaining WHY???? this all is happening or
they are too smart to very conveniently escape the real issue, “What
instigated him to take such an extreme step?”

2.To talk about caste prejudices being one of the important cause of
such incident is not welcomed at any point and the irony is that if
you dare to speak about this angle first and foremost duty is to
explain your own colleague mostly from your own community and convince
them that this is a harsh truth though they all are aware of the fact
that how “THE CASTE” plays a crucial role in all these incident and
surprisingly majority of suicide in such big Institutions echelons of
knowledge the 80%-90%victims are from reserved category but yet to
speak about this thing is like sailing against the tide and all of
sudden the main issue of suicide is secondary and you find yourself in
the middle explaining each and everyone about your stand because,” in
this era of 21st century on papers caste discrimination is a thing of
past which was abolished long time back by the sincere efforts of the
Government of India” so all of sudden you are tagged a traitor who is
against the harmony and integrity of Nation and hellbent to defame the
institute you are studying in.

Friends this is not just an alarming but this is a helpless
situation,because one person is not responsible it is the System which
is to be blamed because whosoever become the part of the System forget
his moral responsibility and to save this system becomes his priority
and it seems like saving a boat having a hole in the bottom though the
hole is small but it takes all the time of the sailor and not allow
him to concentrate and to decide which route he has to take to reach
the destination.

Friends regarding the suicide committed by Balmukund bharti I have
following points to raise;

1. First and foremost it was not the first time as he tried a week ago
to end his life and was taken to casuality for the treatment Why was
he not admitted and kept under observation as suicidal tendency is in
itself indication for admission and observation. Why he was not seen
by the Psychiatric Consultant in Emergency ward these point if taken
care of in time would have stopped this untoward incident.

2. Again the point of he being failed in the said examination what
steps were taken to help him in this context and this is the similar
case that had happened to Sushil Chaudhary of CSMMU Lucknow. The Dean
of AIIMS should take moral responsibility and should be answerable.

3. Balmukund when came to AIIMS he was beaten up and abused by the
wingmates and finally he has to change his room.

4. One unique thing happened in this case Balmukund always wanted to
change his caste and for this he even abandoned his parents and
assumed a so called higher caste couple as his parents. In last two
years he changed his name twice rest of the details are not available
but eventually will come out but the point is that why he wanted to be
in a so called higher caste the reason is that may be the root cause
of the depression and other failure were attributed to his caste.

5. Balmukund is not just not one case but it is an epitome of caste
prejudice costing his life he tried his best to get rid of the
shackles of caste but miserably failed.

6. The whole incident clearly shows the, “Callous attitude” of inept
AIIMS administration by the very fact that they have not implemented
the ,”Thorat Committee Recommendations” in letter and spirit which was
commissioned by the present Prime Minister in 2006 and that was for
safeguarding the interest of underprivileged students, Residents at
AIIMS

Dear friends to me it is just the tip of the iceberg We are not just
loosing our talents but also those who could have become the pillars
to fight this haunting environment and to build strength for our
Community, then Society and then our Nation. I don’t know how many
Balmukund, Sushil chaudhary have to sacrifice and die in anonymity
but one thing is very clear that though I am disturbed but I am not
broken this is the need of hour ,”We need a committed struggle and
everyone should extend his helping hand in order to put an end to such
unfortunate events”

AIIMS,
New Delhi

One Response to “Caste murder at AIIMS”

1 UTTAMKUMAR SUKHADEVE on March 5, 2010 said:

Dear Singh, what is the use to publishised of the incident happened
with your friend. Everyday there are so many family/persons who belong
to the deprived classes facing the same problum/discriminiation.These
all happened due to our non-active politician/officers who occupied
the key post. They are not bothered about atrocity upon the scheduled
caste/tribe soiciety. I am one of the live example. I have filed a
case in Jan 08 in National Commission for scheduled caste, New Delhi
110 003 against my employer for unlawful compulsory retirement
punishment was imposed on me. Prof.NM Kamble Vice-Chairman of NCSC
delivered his decision in my favour on 30.9.08. But the commission
employee who is belong to upper caste Shri YK Bansal kept my file in a
cold storage and not took any effective action to implement the
decision of the Vice Chairman.During the period of eight monthsOct 08
to May 09 they have not taken any justifible action against my
employer. When i develop presssure by using RTI right, then Shri YK
Bansal ignored the deceision of Vice Chairman dated 30.9.08 even he
avoid to put up the file to the vice chairman and choose to putup the
case directly to the chairman Shri Buta Singh with a recomandation to
close the case without any reason and he succeded to obtained the
signature of the Chairman of the commission. Because his wrongful
action, they deprived my fandamental right which is guranteed by the
india constitution. Prof. NM Kamble and Shri Buta singh both are
belong to the scheduled caste, and they killed the future and right of
a scheduled caste officer and his family. I wrote many letters to them
but they didnot take any pain to reply. Now you tell me, what you will
geting to published the incident of your friend, you will not get any
justice from this ugly society. I do not have any faith in the indian
system of Justice. I am strugling till today for want of Justice since
last six years, whould you like to Join Me for fight. If yes then
please use your right and obtained the xerox copies of my case file
under RTI Act from the National Commission scheduled caste, New Delhi
and go throught it and please Judge and come to the conclusion. If you
find my mistake, I shall be gratefull if you intimate me. If you need
any information I can provide you. This is might be boring work for
you. if yes then please keep your friends memories in the shadow of
time dont publish it….

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/caste-murder-at-aiims/

Caste Cupola: Madha More Pictures
18Feb10

A team of Activists visited the spot Modha where 6 children and 2
Mothers were burnt alive, in order to consolidate the facts and rear
ahead the speed of justice. This has also given a helping hand and
moral support to the suffering Pawar family. Watch the Entire day-
long visit as below:


Pic 01: FIR-1 (Falsified*)
Pic 02: FIR-2 (Falsified*)
Pic 03: FIR-3(Falsified*)

Pic 04: FIR-4 (Falsified*)
Pic 05: FIR-5 (Falsified*)
Pic 06: Campaign for Human Rights (CHR) President visited place of
incidence along with Manisha Tokle, Sameer Taware, Motiram Bade, B.P
Survanshi, Bajrang Tate and Ramrao Gavali

Pic 07 Suresh Chatan Pawar who lost his family
Pic08: Ashok Chatan Pawar Who lost his 8 years old son
Pic 09: Sanjay Suresh Pawar who lost almost every one of his family

Pic 10: Pawar family who lost their six children and two women
Pic 11: This place where eight dead bodies were cremated
Pic 12: Died four children’s and one women in the Pawar Family

Pic 13: CHR fact finding team understand legal aspects of the case.
Team Members are Adv. Shidharth Shinde, Santosh Jadhav, Kailas Veer
and Rajsthan Kale
Pic 14: Victim family requesting to Adv. Eknath Awad ( CHR President )
to get justice

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/caste-cupola-madha-more-pictures/

Caste Cupola: 8 burnt alive, Solapur Pardhi Commune turned into ashes
15Feb10

In an incident that could potentialy put India ablaze, is clearly
under grips of Caste Mindset and it would avail no time for us to
blast the moral order of not only Caste India but also world…

At least eight people, including six children and two woman were
killed when their huts were allegedly set afire by unidentified people
at Nimgaon village in Madha taluka of the district early today.The
identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained, police said.

Talking to UNI, Assistant Police Sub-Inspector of Madha police station
Harishchand More said the incident took place in the early hours but
it came to light only at around 0700 hrs. The fire was doused with the
help of the people. As per the preliminary investigation, the reason
behind the fire is reportedly stated to be an internal rivarly between
two families of a scheduled tribe.

He said police have detained three people including a woman, following
a complaint filed by one Suresh Pawar against them.”We are
investigating the case and detained three people, including a woman –
Zugarabai (40), for their alleged involvement in the case,” he said. A
panchanama has been prepared and a special squad of police has been
sent to Nimgaon Pardhe village to look into the matter, Mr More added.

Atrocitynews will get back to you with more details soon…

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/caste-cupola-8-burnt-alive-paradhi-commune-in-solapur-in-ashes/

Caste Cupola: Implicating frivolously
17Feb10

The story of the Police as far as FIR goes is quite funny. The case is
fabricated in such a way that the Complainant puts blame on the Pardhi
neighborhood for burning of the huts. Seeing the brotherhood among
Pardhis, it was not that possible. However in the FIR the thick
possibility of Pardhi Panchayat being taken into confidence by the
uppercaste Land lord Mr Shantinath Patil is supressed.

Look at the pictures, huge devastation at Madha..

Readers are we staying calm and watching this Jungle Raj in India?

Before blood revolution to arrive that will blow up Indian democracy,
readers , lets unite and give answer to this dirty caste politics .
Please send your support to ***@gmail.com

An interview with Mr Ashok Tagade, an Activist is

http://picasaweb.google.com/savitriindia/AshokTangadeInterview?feat=email#slideshow/5439221797134067618

One Response to “Caste Cupola: Implicating frivolously”

1 yuvaraj magdum on February 19, 2010 said:

hello sathi, i am a social worker and take education MSW post
graduation course in SIBER college,Kolhapur.i want work with your
orgnisation.pls send your reply now. my cell no is 9325723833 i am
working voluntary in MAVA – MAN AGANIST VOILENCE AND ABUSE.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/caste-cupola-false-implications/

Caste Cupola: Reverse Swing by Upper caste
16Feb10

This is a tele that has been worst happening to Mankind. Pardhi Caste
atrocity is a systematic human design to cull the poor families who
ask for their rights. Herein the Upper caste designed a perfect
Reverse swing so as to give it a look of intra-community affair.
Shantinath Patil and his political support used the Pardhi community
people to destroy and kill the brethren for small penny.

Following is the narration of this Atrocity from the Village Madha.
From the spot Atrocitynews correspondent reports.

Watch Videos

This is a struggle that we, the civil society, need to fight
together. Lets support Sunita who took lead and become a moral support
to the affected father, Suresh..Lets Join hands with Sunita..

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/caste-cupola-reverse-swing-by-upper-caste/

Caste Cupola: Home Minister visits Madha, Solapur
15Feb10

A symbolic gesture can be even virulent if happens after the caste
vengeance. Exactly this is done by the Maharashtra Home Minister Mr R.
R. Patil. In his usual gait, Mr R. R. Patil tested the case as very
usual and caste seems not to be the case of this case.

Mr Shanti nath Patil who wanted to grab the land is thus assured he
would be protected due to Caste political clout of local M.P. Baban
Dada Shinde (Rastravadi Congress). Maharashtra Home Minister Mr R. R.
Patil comes from the same political party and not unnatural that he
would not protect the party men.

One Response to “Caste Cupola: Home Minister visits Madha, Solapur”

1 Rahul on February 16, 2010 said:

ALL media(Print,Online,TV) has reported that it is a case between 2
paradhi families.

Why no one has reported this angle of Caste atrocity ? I also read it
in newspaper that Police have detained members of other paradhi family
after Suresh Pawar filed/gave their name in this case ? If it is a
caste atrocity, why he gave such information ? I am awaiting the audio
tape.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/caste-cupola-home-minister-visits-mdha-solapur/

Caste Cupola: Upper caste conspiracy in Madha, Solapur
15Feb10

Nights at the Outskirts of Madha village fear these days due to
powerful upper caste men. The caste goons mind the movements of lower
caste households whose mind gears up for rights to life with dignity
as fundamental right. Also historic mandate from Vedas, that lower
caste can be sacrificed to Hindu Gods ‘FIRE’ ( mentioned in Yajur and
Rig Veda) is also putting fire to caste insanity.

Pic o1: Bodies fused together in the last!

The story of Pardhi families (6 children and 2 women) burning to
ashes last Midnight is tearing down minds all over Solapur. The
painful act of terror is worst than the Jihadi terror inPune where
people were killed indiscriminately in a planted bomb-blast. But in
Madha the people were killed because they come from typical lower
caste background.

Soon it comes to Police and it is disfigured, disenchanted and
forgotten. The entire case takes political turn .

Rights for rights is the only thing that Dalits demand. In village
Madha, when the Pardhi family won over the rights over the land,
fearing worst humiliation all upper caste goons got together. They
were backed by caste public dictate (as seen in Khairlanji), exhibited
the muscle power and threatened the Pardhi outskirts to vacate the
land or face the consequences. Police heard the Pardhi complaints but
did nothing successively.

Mr Shanti nath Patil who was unlawfully owning this land before it was
warded to a Pardhi family, wanted to grab the land. He was assured and
protected by Caste and political clout of local M.P. Mr Baban Dada
Shinde (Rastravadi Congress). Maharashtra Home Minister Mr R. R. Patil
comes from the same political party and not unnatural that he would
not protect the party men.

So Main Villian of Humanity-1- Mr Shantinath Patil
second Main Villian of Humanity-2- Mr Baban Dada Shinde, MLA

Goons had backing of upper caste hatred. They who burnt huts and made
mockery of humanity are-
Supporting Villian of Humaniy- 1- Mr Zoombar Bhairu Kale (age 50)
Supporting Villian of Humaniy-2-Mr Netaji Bhairu Kale (age 25),
Supporting Villian of Humaniy-3-Mr. Jabbar Bhanu Shinde (age 35),
Supporting Villian of Humaniy-4-Mr Lala Baleshah Pawar (age 23),
Supporting Villian of Humaniy-5-Mr. Shivaji Aalappa Pawar (age 24,)
Supporting Villian of Humaniy-6-Mr. Chandi Alappa Pawar (age 22),
Supporting Villian of Humaniy-7-Mr. Kamya Harkun Kale (age 30),

See the utensils turned black in a Caste Cupola!

The pardhi family (Mr. Suresh Chgaan Pawar) derived subsistence from
that mere land . This land got awarded to them by the Govt in 2004.
The barren land got transformed into fertile fields with due efforts
from the family. Seeing this the upper caste fellows could not
tolerate this. They were burning with jealousy inside. The upper caste
goon made many attempts to extradited Suresh Pawar family from the
place. Suresh made his firm resolve not to vacate the place come what
may! WOmen and his kids dared to stand by him.

Mothers burnt ailve:
1. Mrs Manish Sanjay Pawar (Age-26)
2. Mrs Nitabai Raju Pawar ( age- 18)

Kids not spared:
3. Mangesh Sanjay Pawar (age 6)
4. Gyani Sanjay Pawar (age 6)
5. Mahesh Sanjay Pawar (age 1/2)
6. Raju SureshPawar (age 11)
7. Chabula Suresh Pawar (age 9)
8. Piraji Ashok Pawar( age

Pic 03: Police reached after 18 hours, did not arrest the main caste
goons, finding if they get any clue to hide caste angle !

And on the fateful night the Caste goons surrounded the Huts and put
them ablaze, they also made it sure the Kids and WOmen don’t run aways
from burning Huts. Kids and Women fearing worst of attacks outside
Huts prefered to die together. The bones of all the bodies in the
morning seen fused together. Such caste crime was leasyly washed out
from public cosnciousness by the local administration. They sided the
powerfull uppercaste political lobby. As usual the Home minister,
( AntiHero of Khailanji) Mr. R R Patil paid visit to the village and
made every effort to curb the caste atrocity look to the case. Even
another woman was falsely implicated that has given new turn to the
incident. People at the outskirts have learnt to keep silent by which
they could save lives. Such is a caste terror of India! People
prefer to witness their fellowmen getting burnt live than to say
anything against.

Readers Stay awake, we’ll come with AUDIO file detailing On-Spot tele…
in Marathi soon….

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/caste-cupola-upper-caste-conspiracy-in-madha-solapur/

Caste Cupola: 8 burnt alive, Solapur Pardhi Commune turned into ashes
15Feb10

In an incident that could potentialy put India ablaze, is clearly
under grips of Caste Mindset and it would avail no time for us to
blast the moral order of not only Caste India but also world…

At least eight people, including six children and two woman were
killed when their huts were allegedly set afire by unidentified people
at Nimgaon village in Madha taluka of the district early today.The
identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained, police said.

Talking to UNI, Assistant Police Sub-Inspector of Madha police station
Harishchand More said the incident took place in the early hours but
it came to light only at around 0700 hrs. The fire was doused with the
help of the people. As per the preliminary investigation, the reason
behind the fire is reportedly stated to be an internal rivarly between
two families of a scheduled tribe.

Pic01: Upper caste cruelty: Burnt at Midnight nothing left except
Bones and ashes

He said police have detained three people including a woman, following
a complaint filed by one Suresh Pawar against them.”We are
investigating the case and detained three people, including a woman –
Zugarabai (40), for their alleged involvement in the case,” he said. A
panchanama has been prepared and a special squad of police has been
sent to Nimgaon Pardhe village to look into the matter, Mr More added.

Atrocitynews will get back to you with more details soon…

Caste Virus shocks Indian Prime Minister after 3G gap
08Sep09

After 3 generations of Congress rule in India, first time ever Prime
Minister of India felt pangs of caste atrocities. Over the years
naked dance of caste hatred among Indian societies widely exported
wherever Indians travel may it be Australia, USA, UK or South Korea
which has not come in the BOP (Balance of Payment). In order to
proliferate the’ Caste Tree’ , known strategy is to fund and to build
Community Based Temples (ISKON, SWAMINARAYAN ) , also invite
Gandhian politicians for inaugural sessions for celebrity-public
backing . The tradition of watering sapling that bears venomous
fruits is obvious in such caste-culture. The hate for lower caste
Indians in and around world seems consequential. Many forums we see
today among elite-castiest Indians standing up merely to protect self
interests and to oppose the affirmative actions on false grounds of
merit. Infosys Chairman Mr Narayan Murthi has too set a silent role
into this design. Caste based Hindu ideological sphere is
mushrooming . PM is not shocked at this, No Surprises!

What’s more shocking is Prime Minister’s political statement
regarding his early priority as cleansing Indian picture in the eyes
of External world and therefore subsiding caste Atrocities in the
Police station, instead of acting sharp on the societal ill
practices. Such an overt understanding mounts more sufferings to
Dalit communities in India who constitute 25% iNDIAN population. The
entire objective behind curbing the Caste Atrocities at national level
is taken as part of policy ‘development paradigm ‘ while it remains
long to be seen how the Top officials including PM put up priority
actions at strategic cultural level. They have not done in past (and
they will not do in future?) as most of their blood educates in high
Mansions of sophistry. How can they think of Enlightened India full of
dignity and hope ! For them Enlightened Indian is status Quo. For some
it is Gandhi’s Varnashrma, for some its KLUX KLAN, for some it is
RAMRAJYA where certain sections/castes enjoy privileges over rest
under the misnomer of KARMA. Till eternity sanctions from Vedic
shibboleths have prepared India indistinct from wild animal culture.
Unless constitutional ethics are emboldened in public life, no PM can
feel safe about India live aside the developmental (economy) goals.

In his speech, PM quoted Caste Atrocity convictions are little below
30% . This is a big lie. People of India thru this forum ask him from
where he quoted this figure? A year not passed, Crime Reports from
Central Govt Police Agencies submitted figure far below 5%. Why is
this jugglery going on?

PM might have shocked seeing (30% catapult?) convictions but if he
comes to know actual convictions, another cardiac arrest is waiting
at doors. Hold on ! This is not going to happen though, the ‘caste
pain’ does not touch thick skinned Gandhi/political clan!

Readers please go thru the NEws in Indian Express….

PM shocked over low conviction rate of cases under SC/ST Act

Expressing shock over less than 30 per cent conviction rate for cases
of atrocities against SCs and STs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on
Monday asked state governments to give more attention to the issue and
said court cases related to such matters should be “pursued on
priority”.

“Reports of atrocities against SCs, STs and senior citizens continue
to appear with disturbing regularity. I have in fact written to the
Chief Ministers of all states recently to enforce the provisions of
the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
It is shocking that conviction rate for cases of atrocities against
SCs and STs is less than 30 per cent against the average of 42 per
cent for all cognizable offences under IPC. The state governments need
to give more attention to this issue,” he said inaugurating a
conference of state ministers of welfare and social justice here.
Singh told them to conduct meetings of state and district level
vigilance committees on a regular basis and said that court cases
should be pursued on priority. Focussing on the need to change the
general mindset towards disadvantaged groups, the Prime Minister said
such people should be made equal partners in the developmental
processes.

“We propose to amend the Persons with Disabilities Act in consultation
with states so as to bring it in line with the UN Convention (on
Rights of Persons with Disabilities),” he said.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/caste-virus-shocks-indian-prime-minister-after-3g-gap/

Chief Justice of India not left out of caste discrimination !11Jan10
In what could raise serious concerns over the working of the 60-year-
old reservation system to uplift the dalits is an appaling fact that
that Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan (the post he achived thru
his meritorious disposition) was no spared in his career time. In
India, Higher courts do not have affirmative policies in place.

Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan on Sunday said caste
prejudices had not come down against the dalits. Reflecting on his
journey from a dalit boy to the post of CJI, Justice Balakrishnan said
it had not been an easy road for him. Asked whether in the present
day, a similarly placed dalit boy would have a smoother journey, the
CJI said, “It will still be difficult.”

Speaking to TOI, Justice Balakrishnan said, “The prejudices are on the
increase. It may not be visible on the surface, for the prejudices are
more sophisticate now.” This remark from the CJI puts in question the
efficacy of the current system of reservation for Scheduled Caste
population through the Presidential Order of 1950 to compensate them
for the centuries of oppression at the hands of upper castes.

But the CJI was not bitter as he looked back on the eve of completing
three years in the top post, just five months away from his
retirement. “I have suffered caste prejudices. But at the same time,
so many people have helped me irrespective of their caste,” he added.

In fact, the Supreme Court in April 2006 had issued notices to the
Centre and all states on a PIL filed by an NGO — ‘National Campaign on
Dalit Human Rights’ (NCDHR) — citing 20 common instances of
indifference of police and authorities that had rendered the SCs and
STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, a dead piece of legislation.
The PIL had sought as many as 28 different directions for the proper
implementation of the 17-year-old Act.

Source: TOI

One Response to “Chief Justice of India not left out of caste
discrimination !”

1 SANJIV SATYARTHI on January 12, 2010 said:
I congratulate to Justice Balakrishnan to speak truth in public. I
also feel the same discrimination still continue and it is very
difficult for Dalit to come forward and he faces lot of problem to
achieve his goal.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/chief-justice-of-india-not-left-out-of-caste-descrimination/

Understanding Untouchability: A report
29Jan10

A recent report ” Understanding Untouchability” (Click here to access)
is well-researched document prepared by Robert F. Kennedy Center for
Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center USA) and Navsarjan Trust, Gujrat.

http://atrocitynews.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/understanding-untouchability-rfk.pdf

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/understanding-untouchability-a-report/

No school entry to Dalits and Muslims: Caste in Indian Schools
002MH201016Jan10
In a shocking news, An education trust in Jintur, Parbhani district of
Maharastra has decided not to enroll Dalits and poor Muslims in their
schools.

Dated 1st July 2008, such amendment which can kill the democratic
nature of Indian social life was passed in a board meeting wherein Mr
Mukund Savji Kalamkar chaired the proceedings.

Other ill members who were party to a decision were-
1. Dr. N. J. Holani
2. Mr. Chandrakant Kade
3. Mr. Deepak Watthamwar
4. Mrs. Shailaja Kalamkar
5. Mr. A. V. Deshpande

6. Mr. D. V. Sontakke ( The Principal)

Most of the members are (well?) educated and are from higher caste
backgrounds. In the board meeting it was finalised that if any of the
students from these communities were entertained there would be
disciplinary action intiated against the Principal.

People from all backgrounds in nearby villages are shocked and are
registering a people-regret over ill decision of the school management
who are quite educated and resourceful. However being politically
heavy weight, its unthinkable that punitive action would be intiated
against the culprits of humanity.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/no-school-entry-to-dalits-and-muslims-caste-in-indian-schools/

Officer destroys Public Office; Caste virus 001MH2010
16Jan10

Mr.Avinash Kumar is an unusual Indian Police officer (IPS) in Wardha
region of Maharashtra. He has held with himself an office to mutilate
Dalit awareness and Buddhist activism. Besides few other official
responsibilities, he is preoccupied in beating youths who courage
socio-politic spirit.

A recent case that has come up, adores him a terror avtar. Owing to
his organising a social gathering, youth from a respected Buddhist
family, Mr Avinash Sawai was assumedly (false) implicated in a robbery
case of 1000 Rs (20 USD). Arrested in the early morning 4AM, Avinash
taken into Police Custody for six long days and physical torture
meeted out day and night which made the youth bleed profusely. Under
psudo medical testimony, the medical care was denied, courts were
fooled. The days following, victim was further beaten in front of his
mother first, then in public procession, caste vendetta seen in the
abuses while smashing private body parts by boots.

Victim runs an active educational movement in the region, but now it
is an affected office as no youth will come forward to join him. There
seems to be no-serious care-takers of public office in Wardha.

Thanks to terror from an Indian Police !

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/officer-destroys-public-office-caste-virus-001mh2010/

Nepal in the grips of caste-virus
11Jan10

Durpati Nepali hides her face in shame as she recalls how she was
forced to return to work as a prostitute after her husband was killed
during Nepal’s 10-year civil war.

The 35-year-old mother of five says she resorted to prostitution — an
occupation she first took up aged just 14 — in desperation after the
food stall she set up failed because customers were abusive and
refused to pay.Nepali was victimised because she is a Badi, a caste of
so-called “untouchables” living mainly in western Nepal whose women
have traditionally earned their living as sex workers.Once high-class
courtesans and musicians, the Badi are now among the poorest and most
downtrodden groups in Nepal, where discrimination on caste grounds
remains rife despite being outlawed more than four decades ago.Many
are disadvantaged from birth because they carry the surname Nepali,
often used on the birth certificates of children where paternity is
unclear, making them vulnerable to persecution.”When my husband died,
I had no option but to go back into prostitution to feed my family,”
said Nepali, whose husband died eight years ago, a victim of the civil
conflict that ended in 2006.”Even when I wasn’t working as a
prostitute, people treated me like one. But it has brought many
problems,” she told AFP in her tiny mud hut in the village of Bankhet
in mid-western Nepal.”Last month, more than 20 villagers came and
threatened to burn down our home if we did not leave the village.”

Activists say that a lack of education and continuing caste-based
prejudices in majority-Hindu Nepal often make it difficult for Badi
women to earn their living any other way, trapping them in a cycle of
poverty and social rejection.Nepali’s mother was a sex worker, and now
her two youngest daughters — one aged 14, one 16 — have followed her
into prostitution.”I had high hopes for my daughters, I wanted them to
marry into good families. But they say they want to look after me like
I looked after them when their father died,” she said.”I’m not happy
that they have become prostitutes. But if they had not, there would be
no food on the table.”Mahesh Nepali, director of the advocacy group
Social Awareness for Education (SAFE) Nepal and himself a Badi, said
the community faced discrimination even from other “untouchable”
castes, and were viewed as the “lowest of the low.”"Even among the
untouchables, Badis are seen as the most untouchable,” he said.”As a
result they have no sense of self worth. On top of that, they are very
weak economically, so it is almost impossible for them to change their
destiny without outside help.”

In 2007, hundreds of Badi women travelled to the capital Kathmandu
where they held a series of rowdy protests to demand government help,
some stripping off outside the parliament building.Some help is now
available in the form of government funding for the rehabilitation and
rehousing of vulnerable Badi women, although the implementation of
such programmes has been hampered by political instability.The Badi —
estimated to number around 40,000 across the Himalayan country — have
also benefited from a recent change in the law that for the first time
permitted fatherless children to obtain citizenship.But Sapana Pradhan
Malla, a renowned women’s rights lawyer who last year became a member
of Nepal’s parliament, said the government needed to do much more to
help the Badi people.”Because of the social stigma they have not been
a political priority,” she told AFP.”I urge the government to ensure
justice for these people. After all, they are our sisters and mothers.
How can we treat them differently?”A handful of women have managed to
change their destiny, among them Kalpana Nepali, 23, who grew up in a
hostel for the children of Badi sex workers.”My father died when I was
two and a half, forcing my mother to go into the sex trade,” said
Kalpana, who now runs a small cooperative bank for her community.”One
day my mother and some other women sold all their jewellery to fund a
hostel for the children because they did not want them to grow up in
that environment.”As a result, most of us managed to finish high
school. But if it had not been for the hostel, I’m sure we would also
be doing sex work.”But there are many more who have received no such
help, such as Durpati’s 14-year-old daughter Binita, who left school
aged just 12 and went into the sex trade.”I miss school. Sometimes I
wonder why I left,” she told AFP.”I dreamt of becoming a doctor or
doing some other honest job. But what can you do? We have no money so
I cannot fulfil those dreams.”

Source: AFP

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/nepal-in-the-grips-of-caste-virus/

2 Minor Girls raped, Caste terror unabated in Pune
29Dec09

Atrocitynews Correspondant from Pune district reports…

Two bright young girls from Loni-Kalbhor village in Haveli Taluka were
raped inhumanly last week in daylight. The caste terror continues
unabated in the Pune district. Police administration is again caught
sleeping. These girls belong to poor Buddhist and Matang family
respectively. Their families have been migrated from the Marathwada
region of Osmanabad district. Their families were staying at the
Missalwadi which is the extended part of the Loni kalbhor village. The
name Missalwadi is quite interesting name to be known about. Missal is
one of the Maharashtrian dishes (which is mixture of many fried
ingredients). Likewise Misalwadi is heterogeneous ghetto of mix caste-
community migrated labourers which is unusual to have due to ire from
rich Hindu caste Groups. As a result, THEY gave derogatory name to
this particular village as Missalwadi.

LEARNING more about the victims- Both the victims are below 18, so
their names can not be disclosed.

Victim no 1

The girl belongs to the Matang community is living here with family.
Her family consists of three members. Her father and mother both are
laborers in the fields of upper caste. They are from Osmanabad
district of Marathwada region. Victim is 12 year old girl and was
studying in the 6th standard in Kanya Prashala, vernacular Medium
school in Loni-Kalbhor.

Victim no 2

The second girl who belongs to the Buddhist family stays with her
mother and elder brother in this village since 2005. Ten years past
her father met with an accident and that’s how she lost her father.
Since then her mother raised her both children. She is 13 year old
girl. She used to study in the 8th standard in Kanya Prashala ,
Vernacular medium school in Loni-Kalbhor. Her family was also migrated
from the Marathwada region from the same district as mentioned above.

The incident

On December 15, 2009 as usual girls were returning from the school,
they were stopped at the Pandhari Road (which was the usual root for
the school) by the three accused namely

1.Shrikant Tulshiram Shelar(Lower caste),
2. Digambar Ranganath Machale(Upper caste),
3. Ganesh Dattatray Raskar(Upper caste).

They stopped them at around the 12:00 P.M and from there they took
them into the sugar cane field near the Pandari Road. Victims were
threatened with knife and were forcefully raped. Shrikant Shelar raped
the victim no. 2 and Digamber Machale raped the victim no 1
respectively. As they were threatened by using the articles like knife
and other way through using words like killing their parents if they
let know about it to anyone as a result they did tell to no one. The
girls were terrified by accused. However the very next day as the
girls were returning from the school again they were stopped at the
Ramdara by the same accused as mentioned above. They were been pulled
in the auto Rickshaw with the force. And from there they were taken on
the nearby mountain. (They were raped in the same fashion as they were
raped on the earlier day. Shrikant Shelar raped the victim no. 2 and
Digamber Machale raped the victim no 1 respectively. Their friend Mr.
Ganesh Dattatray Raskar kept watch on both the day)

At home, their parents were little worried as both the girls got late
to return to home, they went on to search children. Victim no. 1’s
mother went on her daughter search but she did not find any. Victim no
2’s brother called Mr. Gaalfade for his mother works at his place as
land laborer. He informed her that both the girls have not returned
from the school. Then from there she left for huge search task. Atlast
she found both the girls at Pandhari road in the evening at around
7:30 P.M. She saw them crying. She brought them at the home. And asked
to tell what happened with them. Then girls opened up and told
everything had happened with them. Girls also told earlier rape story
too, due to fear they did not open their mouth during that time.

Then the both the family did not understand what to do next. The whole
night they kept crying as they were in deep grief. However they
decided to launch a police complaint. Next morning they woke up and
went to the police station and asked for First Investigation
Report(FIR). The Loni Kalbhor police station took their complaint and
took them to the Sassoon hospital in Pune for Medical examination. Now
their medical has been done, medi-reports are awaited.

Manuski’s intervention and observation

Manuski members when learnt about the incidence, they went on to meet
the family on 22nd day of December, 2009. However victims’ family had
gone to do the medical examination . Manuski members (including
Atrocitynews correspondant) went to the Loni Kalbhor police station,
talked to police inspector Mr. Rasaal about the incidence. Police
provided the necessary information regarding the case and promised to
cooperate further.

23rd December team along with Ms. Vandana (NCDHR) went to meet victims
family. They met the family and got the copy of FIR. Members talked to
the victims and their parents and tried to understand the facts of the
atrocity. Team collected relevant legal information on atrocity.

Whenever Dalit woman been raped people always point the character of
the Dalit woman but not the accused. It seems that the Hindu caste
people been supportive to accused. They fail to see in them criminal
due to strong caste fraternity. It’s been the strategy of the caste
Hindu people to preserve fudalism. Pointing at character of a women is
old fashion Indian male trick to deplore the case.

Facts of the case seen below (includes Victim submission, FIR)

2 Minor Girls raped, Caste terror unabated in Pune
29Dec09

Atrocitynews Correspondant from Pune district reports…

Two bright young girls from Loni-Kalbhor village in Haveli Taluka were
raped inhumanly last week in daylight. The caste terror continues
unabated in the Pune district. Police administration is again caught
sleeping. These girls belong to poor Buddhist and Matang family
respectively. Their families have been migrated from the Marathwada
region of Osmanabad district. Their families were staying at the
Missalwadi which is the extended part of the Loni kalbhor village. The
name Missalwadi is quite interesting name to be known about. Missal is
one of the Maharashtrian dishes (which is mixture of many fried
ingredients). Likewise Misalwadi is heterogeneous ghetto of mix caste-
community migrated labourers which is unusual to have due to ire from
rich Hindu caste Groups. As a result, THEY gave derogatory name to
this particular village as Missalwadi.

LEARNING more about the victims- Both the victims are below 18, so
their names can not be disclosed.

Victim no 1

The girl belongs to the Matang community is living here with family.
Her family consists of three members. Her father and mother both are
laborers in the fields of upper caste. They are from Osmanabad
district of Marathwada region. Victim is 12 year old girl and was
studying in the 6th standard in Kanya Prashala, vernacular Medium
school in Loni-Kalbhor.

Victim no 2

The second girl who belongs to the Buddhist family stays with her
mother and elder brother in this village since 2005. Ten years past
her father met with an accident and that’s how she lost her father.
Since then her mother raised her both children. She is 13 year old
girl. She used to study in the 8th standard in Kanya Prashala ,
Vernacular medium school in Loni-Kalbhor. Her family was also migrated
from the Marathwada region from the same district as mentioned above.

The incident

On December 15, 2009 as usual girls were returning from the school,
they were stopped at the Pandhari Road (which was the usual root for
the school) by the three accused namely

1.Shrikant Tulshiram Shelar(Lower caste),
2. Digambar Ranganath Machale(Upper caste),
3. Ganesh Dattatray Raskar(Upper caste).

They stopped them at around the 12:00 P.M and from there they took
them into the sugar cane field near the Pandari Road. Victims were
threatened with knife and were forcefully raped. Shrikant Shelar raped
the victim no. 2 and Digamber Machale raped the victim no 1
respectively. As they were threatened by using the articles like knife
and other way through using words like killing their parents if they
let know about it to anyone as a result they did tell to no one. The
girls were terrified by accused. However the very next day as the
girls were returning from the school again they were stopped at the
Ramdara by the same accused as mentioned above. They were been pulled
in the auto Rickshaw with the force. And from there they were taken on
the nearby mountain. (They were raped in the same fashion as they were
raped on the earlier day. Shrikant Shelar raped the victim no. 2 and
Digamber Machale raped the victim no 1 respectively. Their friend Mr.
Ganesh Dattatray Raskar kept watch on both the day)

At home, their parents were little worried as both the girls got late
to return to home, they went on to search children. Victim no. 1’s
mother went on her daughter search but she did not find any. Victim no
2’s brother called Mr. Gaalfade for his mother works at his place as
land laborer. He informed her that both the girls have not returned
from the school. Then from there she left for huge search task. Atlast
she found both the girls at Pandhari road in the evening at around
7:30 P.M. She saw them crying. She brought them at the home. And asked
to tell what happened with them. Then girls opened up and told
everything had happened with them. Girls also told earlier rape story
too, due to fear they did not open their mouth during that time.

Then the both the family did not understand what to do next. The whole
night they kept crying as they were in deep grief. However they
decided to launch a police complaint. Next morning they woke up and
went to the police station and asked for First Investigation
Report(FIR). The Loni Kalbhor police station took their complaint and
took them to the Sassoon hospital in Pune for Medical examination. Now
their medical has been done, medi-reports are awaited.

Manuski’s intervention and observation

Manuski members when learnt about the incidence, they went on to meet
the family on 22nd day of December, 2009. However victims’ family had
gone to do the medical examination . Manuski members (including
Atrocitynews correspondant) went to the Loni Kalbhor police station,
talked to police inspector Mr. Rasaal about the incidence. Police
provided the necessary information regarding the case and promised to
cooperate further.

23rd December team along with Ms. Vandana (NCDHR) went to meet victims
family. They met the family and got the copy of FIR. Members talked to
the victims and their parents and tried to understand the facts of the
atrocity. Team collected relevant legal information on atrocity.

Whenever Dalit woman been raped people always point the character of
the Dalit woman but not the accused. It seems that the Hindu caste
people been supportive to accused. They fail to see in them criminal
due to strong caste fraternity. It’s been the strategy of the caste
Hindu people to preserve fudalism. Pointing at character of a women is
old fashion Indian male trick to deplore the case.

Facts of the case seen below (includes Victim submission, FIR)

4 Responses to “2 Minor Girls raped, Caste terror unabated in Pune”

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http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/2-minor-girls-raped-caste-terror-unabated-in-pune/

Slave Trade in India continues: Dalit family sold
14Dec09

A court in Rajasthan has asked the police to register a case against
an influential Rajput family in Ajmer district for allegedly selling
an entire Dalit family for Rs 2.75 lakh to a Tonk-based furnace
factory to work there as bonded labourers.

Mahaveer, his wife Sharda and their children Rakesh, Mukesh, Ghisalal,
Chitar and his wife Sajani were sold last year, but the incident came
to the fore when the family escaped from captivity. One year after the
alleged transaction, the seven members of the Dalit family escaped and
reached their native Sunariya village in Ajmer. They took refuge in a
jungle after they were brutally beaten allegedly by the Rajput family
members who also burned down their house. The court order came after
an Ajmer-based lawyer decided to take up their case.

On Friday, a court in Sarwar asked the police to register cases
against the alleged culprits, including Gopal, Bhupender, Prahalad and
Hanuman Bheel. ‘‘Last year Gopal, Bhupender and Prahalad took us to
Tonk on a jeep and left us at the furnace factory. We had to work
there for 15 to 16 hours daily,’’ recalled Mahaveer. He said factory
owner Mustakim Bajigar refused to pay any wages saying he had already
paid money. ‘‘We used to get very less to eat and were not allowed to
go out,’’ said Sharda.

Watch NDTV video here…

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/slave-trade-in-india-continues-dalit-family-sold/

Hindu Gujarat preserves ‘untouchability’
13Dec09

This is the taluka where Tata Motors has parked its small car project.
Nano has become a symbol of Gujarat’s pride and became a centre of
attraction at the last Vibrant Gujarat investment summit in January
2009.

But scratch the surface, and the scene is gloomy beneath this economic
boom in the state. Bhikhabhai Solanki, 50, a native of Lodariyal
village, has never shaken hands with non-Dalits in his life.
Bhikhabhai, an agricultural labourer, is Valmiki by caste – the lowest
of the socially downtrodden. “We are untouchables and nobody touches
us here,” he says. The farmer he works for keeps a tea-cup outside his
house. Whenever Bhikhabhai arrived for work in the morning or leaves
after finishing in the evening, tea is poured into the cup. Strangely,
this form of untouchability goes in the name of religion. These cups
are called ‘Ram patra’.

The practice thrives across Gujarat, without exception, and has been
documented extensively in a first-of-its-kind study on a large scale,
representing 98,000 Dalits across 1,655 villages in Gujarat. The study
has been carried out by Ahmedabad-based Navsarjan Trust with three US-
based organisations – the Kroc Institute for International Peace
Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, Dartmouth College at
the University of Michigan and Robert F Kennedy Centre for Social
Justice and Human Rights, Washington, D.C.

“This has been going on for generations. The only change is that
earlier there used to be cups made of clay and now they are made of
steel,” says Bhikhabhai. He confesses that drinking the tea offered by
his master does hurt his dignity. But then, he does not want to lose
his daily wage because he has to feed five other members of his
family. His daughter-in-law, Ambha, agrees. She points out that she
carries her own utensils to work, but the person who serves the
afternoon meal at the farm drops the food into the plate without
touching it. In Lodariyal, Dalit women can’t touch vegetables at the
shop just to sample them. Only once they pay up, and the money is kept
on the side and not handed over, the vegetables are flung into the
hollow of their saree. The tea stall owner gives tea to Dalits only in
disposable plastic cups. Others get it in ceramic cups. According to
the study, 98 per cent of the respondents said that non-Dalits keep
separate utensils at home to serve them food or tea. The same
discrimination goes only slight down to 96 per cent on farms.

Dalit rights activist Martin Macwan of Navsarjan Trust says: “In every
step of untouchability, the same concept is being applied – that of
purity. Gujarat has only tried to dignify an indignity by calling
these separate utensils as ‘Ram patra’”.

Source: TOI

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/hindu-gujarat-preserves-untouchability/

Rotten Journalism: Swami Style damages Dignity
08Dec09

em>In a splendid reply to Pravin Swami’s article “Where style has
trumped substance”(dt.26 November,2009) Lalit Khandare attempts to put
cause before pervert journalism and dents question on today’e upper
caste writing style

Pic 01 Public Sanitation at the cost of Life
<
(Courtsey @ Sudharak Olwe from http://tinyurl.com/yz6opd5)

In an article "Where style has trumped substance" by Pravin Swami on
26 November,2009, the writer comes across as making an appeal that
salaries of Sanitation workers must not be increased at cost of
national security.
Pravin Swami says, "Working upwards of fourteen hours a day — not
counting the typically three hours spent commuting — constable Kamble
earns a basic pay of Rs. 5,200 a month. Sanitation workers employed by
the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation are paid less — Rs. 4,440 a
month — but end up taking home similar wages, because of overtime.
Indeed, until the Sixth Pay Commission recently upgraded the
categorisation of police work as semi-skilled from skilled, sanitation
workers actually made more money. Little has been done to upgrade the
police’s living standards and training."

This article by Pravin Swami hints to question the “higher earnings”
of sanitation worker than that of security personnel.

Higher wages for sanitation worker can help them choose better
education and provide better health facilities for their children and
family. Although it is highly improbable, higher wages might encourage
people from other castes to also join these services. In reality the
working conditions and wages of sanitation workers in Mumbai is not
sufficient to protect their lives. Maharashtra police personnel have
comprehensive health insurance; however nothing exist of that sort for
sanitation worker who are equally or more vulnerable to health crisis
than police personnel. There are around 30,000 conservancy workers in
Mumbai. Most of them die cleaning this financial capital of our
Country. Merciless Caste-Hindus never paid attention to the issue of
untouchability that migrated to the urban sphere and its heinous
impacts. There had been proposition and efforts from social scientists
and policy makers to impose ESMA (Essential Services & Maintenance
Act) to curtail the right to strike of conservancy workers, and also
to privatize their services.

All low caste jobs while being degrading and non-dignifying in nature
help the majority of this country’s people absolve their
responsibility towards managing their own filth and garbage. It is
worth noting the comment of Jairam Ramesh, Environment and Forest
Minister who said, “Our cities are the dirtiest of the world. If there
is a Nobel Prize for dirt and filth, India will win it.” Socio-
culturally we have given this task of cleaning dirt in rural and urban
India predominantly to “untouchables” and few other most backward
castes. Can we say that “untouchables” failed to perform their merit
in cleaning Indian cities and now let other communities take up
responsibility to show their merit?
There are good number of research and documentaries (eg. “Lesser
Humans' by Stalin K) showing the different forms of untouchability
practices amongst conservancy workers in cities. Sudharak Olwe, a
National Geographic and many other awards winner had pointed out the
plight of conservancy workers in Mumbai. His photo story titled, ‘In
search of Dignity and Justice: The Untold Story of Mumbai's
Conservancy Workers’ puts the plight of the city’s conservancy workers
in sharp focus.

The first anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, which got the
undivided attention of the media and public, also took focus away from
another important event that fell on November 26 – the national
Constitution day. The very Constitution of India which gives liberty
and freedom of expression to media, which is the fourth pillar of
democracy. Without caring for their lives, Dalits martyrs led their
lives for the cause of people during 26/11, however no-one got due
attention. Dalits have always been at the forefront in protecting our
country (in-spite of being enslaved in their very own country for
centuries), historically they have proved their bravery, but are we
ready to address the gross inequality and injustice with Dalit
officers in defence and security forces. While comparing the devotion
and dedication of security personnel and conservancy workers, it must
be noted that few conservancy workers also lost their life while
cleaning the filth of victims of 26/11 (to name few -Thakur Waghela &
Bhagan Shinde). Talking about their contribution along with death of
two security guards, Mumbai Board chairman Amarjit Singh Manhas said
in Mumbai mirror March, 9, 2009, “The contribution of these people is
as important as that of all police personnel killed in the 26/11
terror attacks. This is our way of recognizing their contribution”.
The question is “are we safe, secure, just, and equal society?” or
“are we striving towards Constitutional ideals” before we talk about
“are we safe and secure nation.”

Mr. Pravin Swami and fellow citizens, are we ready to address these
gross violations of Dalit rights and treat them as equal dignified
human being in this 21st century?

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/rotten-journalism-swami-style-damages-dignity/

Fight just started; Breaking Caste dominance in Indian judiciary
28Sep09

Importantly, NCSC headed by Buta Singh has charged the Manmohan Singh
government of encouraging anti-Dinakaran protestors. It said,
“Unfortunately, the Union government is keeping silent which has given
sufficient room to the media to play upon the constitutional rights of
SCs as granted in the Constitution.” In a statement, NCSC said that
the campaign was motivated by caste bias against Dinakaran who is an
SC. It said the campaign was carried out by “anti-dalit and casteist
elements in Bar Council of India, Bars of states and judicial
activists who are known for having cateist attitude towards the
increasing strength of SC/STs in the judicial services of the
country”. The opposition to Justice Dinakaran’s elevation to Supreme
Court has turned into a full-blown confrontation, with political
outfits pitching in. The statement from NCSC adds to the caste
dimension. The NCSC said, “If the tirade against SCs in judiciary is
not stopped, the commission will be dutybound to take stock of the
situation which has arisen from the unabashed and continuous campaign
of vilification against CJI K G Balakrishnan and Justice Dinakaran.”
In another case of caste dimension in judicial appointments,
parliamentary forum of OBC MPs has written to law minister Veerappa
Moily against the appointment of four judges to Andhra Pradesh HC. In
a letter, OBC forum chairman Hanumantha Rao complained that none of
the four appointed judges were from OBC/SC/ST/woman categories even
though ten of them had applied.

2 Responses to “Fight just started; Breaking Caste dominance in Indian
judiciary”

1 UTTAMKUMAR SUKHADEVE on October 7, 2009 said:

Shri Buta Singh has no moral ground to pointout the finger on Prime
Minister. The real fact is this Shri Buta singh himself working
against the scheduled caste. I have the recent example. I have lodge a
complaint with the commission in January 2008, the case was dealt by
the vice chairman Prof NM Kamble and after scruitniging the case
completely given his lawful judgement on 30.9.08 “that the punishment
was harsh and not justified and the petioner was discriminited”. There
after the case is kept in a cold storage without any action and after
my pressurize on the commission . Shri Buta singh suddenly jump and by
passed the vice chairman and ignored his earlier decision dated
30.9.08 and closed the case intimating that their is no violation of
rules of reservation and any other violation of service safeguard.
Whereas my case is entire different and not for the promotion. My case
fall under article 338 clause 5 (B) ” Deprivation of right and service
safeguard of the scheduled caste. which commission is silent I wrote
two letter on 19.8.09 and 20.8.09 but the commission has not taken any
pain to reply to my letter till date. Shri Buta singh is not working
for the schedled caste welfare but he is working by killing the rights
of scheduled caste on the same line of the Nashik case. Shri Buta
singh has not given any justification how he reach the decision to
close my case. he has not given any lawful finding how he overruled
the earlier finding of vice chairman dt 30.9.08. Shri Buta Singh
should leave the seat in the interest of the scheduled caste.

2 kumarpushp on October 10, 2009 said:
Buta singh is a paid agent of congress same as Mr Jagjeevan
Ram,congress is using these hindu bumm lickers and time has come sc
chairman should be appointed by panel of three people with no
political affilation.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/fight-just-started-breaking-caste-dominance-in-indian-judiciary/

Indian Temples of Education: Dalits forced to eat excreta; Castevirus
002Tech200926Sep09

Following is the sample of worst caste-brutality surfacing out of
elite Indian educational system. This is part of ongoing inflictions
unceasingly practiced in Nehru’s temples of technology. Is India Inc.
listening?

A letter from a alumnus of IT BHU is placed for perusal..The nightmare
he faced due to his caste is just inhuman. Active Netizens…..Come
on ..Lets rise-up against such an obnoxious act..

From: Batch of 2002

Subject: Putting excreta in mouth and torturing an IIT-JEE selected
Dalit student in IT-BHU

Sir, I did my B.tech. from IT-BHU (2002-2007). But my course was not
of technology education but an extremely dirty and painful experience
for being a Schedule Caste student. I was attacked by my batchmates
mostly Brahmins. They tried to mentally paralyze me by torturing and
using most abusive words regularly. I was also tortured by the
teachers. When the case became extremely serious I complained to the
Vice Chancellor ,BHU. An enquiry committee was set up but not a single
action was ever taken.

The director of IT-BHU Mr. S.N.Upadhyay and the Dean , BHU Mr. V.K.
Kumra deliberately suppressed the matter and pressurised me not to
make any complaints further. My case is extremely serious but I have
become absolutely helpless and diappointed . I seek your legal help
and moral support to get justice- stern action against the culprits.

Regards,

R. Raman

One Response to “Indian Temples of Education: Dalits forced to eat
excreta; Castevirus 002Tech2009”

1 abin on October 27, 2009 said:

lets al hang our shame once again,its a pity dat such thngs repeat
time n again in our country evn aftr 60″”GLOROIUS”" yrs of
independence,2 prvnt sch thngs frm hapening again first lets al get
rid of d very prjudices we”ve in our minds . lets all get ourselves
rid of our own hypocrisy… one note 2 Mr.RAMAN,keep fighting man, u r
bound 2 succeed,dnt evr gv up cos dat “l again strenghtn the unholy
practise of casteism, mind u man, all dese people want is 2 keep us
ignorant so dat deir domination can remain 4 ever…

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/indian-temples-of-education-dalits-forced-to-eat-excreta-castevirus002tech2009/

Raped and Burnt alive : Caste virus 003OR200902
Sep09

A 16-year-old dalit girl of Kapaleswar village in Kendrapada district
succumbed to her burn injuries on Tuesday evening. She was set on fire
because she protested against her offender.

Jhili Mallick was kidnapped last year and was being held against her
will at Kantia Mallick’s house. On Monday, when she protested, the
youth poured kerosene over her and reportedly set her on fire in the
presence of his parents.

The victim’s brother, Bhagawan Mallick, alleged that he had filed an
FIR against Kantia last year and informed police that Kantia had
kidnapped his sister and forcefully kept her in his house. But the
police did not take any step to arrest the culprit or rescue his
sister. “Police only registered a missing diary in her name,” he said,
adding that he had repeatedly urged the police to take action against
Kantia. “But they paid no heed to my pleas. Now my sister is dead,” he
said. tnn

Tension mounted at Kapaleswar after the victim’s body arrived at the
village. At least 200 villagers blocked the road on Wednesday,
demanding action against the police officials who earlier shielded the
accused and refused to resuce the girl.

Source: TOI

3 Responses to “Raped and Burnt alive : Caste virus 003OR2009”

1 Baliram Nade, Mumbai on September 2, 2009 said:
Jai bhim
This is very bad news and stigma to all human. I thin this time to
take strong decision, because in the current perioud many cases are
happening and the govt. and court is also taking bias of them. so we
reform our stron youth union on national level for prevention of
atrocity it will be make action plan, how to raise the issue and other
strategy will be develop.

2 paikrao on September 5, 2009 said:
Jay Bhim,

Whats going on this is in our country.
To avoid such a things in future Our people should get entered in
Politics and in police at high lavel.
Till that time no justice will be given to our caste people.

3 Kumarpushp on September 5, 2009 said:
India is a cow shits country ,Dr Ambedkar had given a interviw to Time
Magzine in 1936 where he said ,Hinduism is a not a religion but
disease.Dear Buddhist Bandhus and dalit ,how long we will be raped and
killed under hindu led government in India.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/raped-and-burnt-alive-caste-virus-003or2009/

Gevrai: Hindu Priest Rapes Dalit Minor
30Aug09

Gang rape of a Dalit minor by a Hindu Priest and his accomplices is
worst incidence in line with the atrocities piling up in Beed
District. Kidnapping Victim from her home in Rajni village near
National highway and gang rape in adjacent farms to Ahemadanagar Road
– 8-10 km from Beed is a ghory summary. Again “Instead of justice
police outraged her modesty”

Name of Victims : Smita Pawar
Caste : Hindu untouchable caste- Mang
Type of crime : Kidnapping and Gang Rape
Date : 23/08/2009 to 24/08/2009

Name of accused :

1. Uttam Mane ( Upper Caste- Aarradhi Priest)

2. Babalu Turukmare

3. Three unknown persons masked their faces

F.I.R. : 376,328,109,366 ( IPC ) Police Station :
Tal – Gevrai Dist- Beed

Background of the case:

Smita Pawar (name changed) is 15 year old girl, occupation- landless
labour. She belongs to Mang caste (Schedule Caste). Her native place
is Rajnai village, Tal – Georai and Dist – Beed. Three months back she
got married and she was living with her husband.

Victim Smita and her husband came to her parent’s home for the
religious ceremony (Paradi programme) at 12 pm on Friday Dated 21 Aug
2009. On Friday night Uttam Mane came for this religious ceremony as
a priest (Arradhi). He resides in Beed town and another two priests
and one boy also accompanied him, namely Kondiram, Babasaheb and a boy
Babalu Turukmare.

After finishing religious ceremony (Paradi programme) Uttam Mane lived
in victim’s home for two days.

On Sunday 23rd Aug 2009, Uttam Mane told victim to visit Aaai (i.e.
Goddess) temple in the field to perform remaining rituals. Victim
believed and went with him. But when they came near Gadhi Phata of
National Highway of Beed, an auto rickshaw came near them and Babalu
got down from it. Uttam Mane asked Babalu to take her with him. When
she denied Uttam forced victim to sit in the rickshaw besides Bablu.
She feared and doubted their intention and refused to sit in Rickshaw
but Babalu took her scarf and put on her mouth and forcefully made her
to sit in the rickshaw.

Then Babalu took her to Beed Bus stand. Babalu called up his friends
and immediately three friends came and sat in Auto Riksha. Auto Riksha
took turn near Shivji Statute of the Beed and directly proceeded on
Nagar Road. They went approximately 8 – 10 Km away from the Beed. Auto
Riksha halted near secluded place in the farm near a Neem tree close
to a well. There was a hut in the field. The time was around 4.30 pm.
Babalu and masked friends (probably Uttam) forced victim to eat white
tablets. They told her this tablets is for avoiding pregnancy then
Babalu and his friends removed her Sari, and inner garments and they
also snatched away gold and silver ornaments. Initially Babalu
brutally raped her and afterward three others raped took the turn. She
fainted and went unconscious.

On 24th Aug 2009 around 7.30 am to 8.00 am when she regained her
consciousness she found herself in Auto Riksha again. Babalu and his
friends were also seating next to her. She also found that she was
wearing purple colour panjabi dress instead of her sari and also
carrying white – chocolate colour purse containing bangles, scent
bottle and vico cream.

They went to Gevrai in Auto Rikshs and left her on the Gevrai old bus
stand. She was under fear and tremendous stress. When she walked down
towards border of Gevrai, her brother Mr. Hanuman and village people
met her there. Her brother brought her to Shanta Bai’s house. Her
brother gave her water and meal. They went to Georai government
hospital. Then victim’s brother, mother, father and victim herself
went to Georai police station. They registered compliant. Again they
went to Georai government hospital but doctor advised to admit in Beed
civil hospital. They came in civil hospital and Victim admitted in the
civil hospital in Beed.

When police called victim and her father for writing statement, they
went to Georai police station . Instead of registering the complaint
PI (Police Inspector) beat and abused the victim.

Without the intervention from SPMM and CHR, the atrocious system
would easily been covered up similar to earlier Atrocities. They
helped the victim in many ways.

* Psychological support and counseling,
* Legal support, counseling and legal aid,
* Helped for the medical treatment of the victims.
* Put pressure on police and also government by Dharane Andolan and
Rasta Roko.
* Pressure on the political leader and police administration
* Advocacy of the present case at local, district and state level
through electronic and print media
* Networking and Collaboration of all Dalit organizations and
political parties (which supports Dalit cause) for this issue.
* Documentation and reporting
* Documentation and publication

Present situation:

* Police did not put clauses of POA in FIR
* Still main accused are not arrested by the police
* Instead of giving justice police has beaten and abused the victim on
28th Aug. 2009

Local Media:

Pic 01 : News in Sakal on Gang rape of a Sheduled caste woman by an
Uppercaste Priest

Pic 02 : News in Surajya- Gang rape of a Sheduled Caste by an
Uppercaste Priest

5 Responses to “Gevrai: Hindu Priest Rapes Dalit Minor”

1 discount garden furniture on August 30, 2009 said:
Love the new look, keep up the great work the number of visitors must
have increased?.

2 selvakumar on September 3, 2009 said:
Sir are they human being or any animal being?
Manu quoted in his Manusmriti that the outcaste people are not the
human being so the other caste people can use them as an animal. If
the Hindus are realy the animal being they can do this kind of things.

These Hindu fanatics found something special in the outcaste people
tha’s why they always taste the dalit women. they do not find anything
in their women.

Such a stupids they are.

3 STG on February 20, 2010 said:
You are totally misguided selvakumar…. In Manusmriti it is not said
anything like what you are saying. Manu has written a constitution for
that age. And dont mix religion and criminals. You are totally false
and misguided person.

4 Baliram Nade, Mumbai on September 3, 2009 said:
Jai bhim to all

In Beed district in this current situation no. of atrocities are
happed. For this the local police administration is responsible, and
govt.( not our) is also support to the accused. In this case the both
Pandit (MLA and ex. MLA) had intervention and support to accused.

For getting judge we can bring more pressure on govt. and admn. I and
My friends are making action plan of how we handle this case and race
the issue nation and internation level.

5 Surendra Rote on September 5, 2009 said:

Dear all,
Jaibhim.

Since long time we have been facing this humiliation and hostility
from the Caste Hindu people. We are protesting many times but
frequencie of Dalit atrocities has not been decreasing. It is really
disturbing for us. It is fortunate of India that India got Ambedkar.
Ambedkar given us Buddha. Therefore we are all following path of peace
and non-violence even while protesting against injustice.
Otherwise……..we would have been shown that to these Castiest minded
hindus what is brutality and how to kill the person. But it is
fortunate of India, India have Buddha and Ambedkar and both of with
us.
We will never loose our strentgh. We have to strongly protest on each
and every step collectively. We have to reinvent more strategies to
make socially economically and educationally strong to SCs, STs

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/gevrai-hindu-priest-rapes-dalit-minor/

Gevrai: Festive butchering of Dalits
25Aug09

In a Brahmin stronghold Tahsil of Gevrai in Beed District the
atrocities on Dalits are piling up as always. This time the festivals
of Bulls (POLA) brings death penalty to some. No doubt deaths are not
from upper-castes but from helpless poor Dalits at the hands of
former. Soon after the killings, Police stations are terrorized with
Political pressure.

In a Village named Malas-Pimpalgaon, a Dalit was summarily butchered
by Upper-caste men when he refused to obey the dictates . The Hindu
rule is that Matangs (Dalit caste) should not dare beat drums during
festivals. Minding his rights, Laxman Aher , a brave soldier wedged a
war against the caste dictates and beat the drums by which he only
invited the Caste ire . Later he was targetted and mercilessly beaten
to death by the upper castes crowd.

Pic 02: Caste Rules take life in India everyday

Such a Brahman populated area adorns more shame when a Matang minor
was raped by group of upper caste men in Rajni village close to Malas-
Pimpalgaon in the same Tahsil. Even the case was not registered by the
victims due to the fear from upper caste forces. Neither Police came
forward to take the stock of the situation fearing backlash.

Pic 03: Activism in first place; CHR president Ad. Eknath Awad and
Manisha Tokle encouraging victim relatives for registering case in the
police station

Also Police is silent which is the least they can offer to convince
their political dog heads.

However the civil society in the region does not sleep into silence,
having noticed the incidents CHR (Campaign for Human Rights) has
decided to protest thru People March on 30th August on Police station.

The March will be joined by Manisha Tokale, Subhash Nade, KAilas Veer,
Motiram Bade, Santosh JAdhav, Baburao Ghule, Kalyan Naktode, Alka
Naktde, Asha Pawar, Archana Waghmare, Meena Lokhande and others

One Response to “Gevrai: Festive butchering of Dalits”

1 Dickman on August 31, 2009 said:
Indians are a type of animal. All Indians!. These savages should be
shunned by all White countries.

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/gevrai-festive-butchering-of-dalits/

http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/category/dalit-atrocity/

...and I am Sid Harth

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Produktinformation

Taschenbuch: 208 Seiten
Verlag: Vintage Books; Auflage: N.-A. (4. August 1997)
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN-10: 0749390697
ISBN-13: 978-0749390693
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 19,4 x 12,6 x 1,4 cm
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Produktbeschreibungen

Pressestimmen

"A witty documentary satire.... Mehta embraces an enormous variety of
life and death. Her style is light without being flip; her skepticism
never descends to cynicism. [Karma Cola is] a miracle of rationalism
and taste."

-- Time

Sometime in the 1960s, the West adopted India as its newest spiritual
resort. The next anyone knew, the Beatles were squatting at the feet
of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Expatriate hippies were turning on
entire villages to the pleasures of group sex and I.V. drug use. And
Indians who were accustomed to earning enlightenment the old-fashioned
way were finding that the visitors wanted their Nirvana now -- and
that plenty of native gurus were willing to deliver it.

No one has observed the West's invasion of India more astutely than
Gita Mehta. In Karma Cola the acclaimed novelist trains an unblinking
journalistic eye on jaded sadhus and beatific acid burnouts, the
Bhagwan and Allen Ginsberg, guilt-tripping English girls and a guru
who teaches gullible tourists how to view their previous incarnations.
Brilliantly irreverent, hilarious, sobering, and wise, Mehta's book is
the definitive epitaph for the era of spiritual tourism and all its
casualties -- both Eastern and Western.

"Evelyn Waugh would have rejoiced."

-- The New York Times Book Review
Kurzbeschreibung

Beginning in the late '60s, hundreds of thousands of Westerners
descended upon India, disciples of a cultural revolution that
proclaimed that the magic and mystery missing from their lives was to
be found in the East. An Indian writer who has also lived in England
and the United States, Gita Mehta was ideally placed to observe the
spectacle of European and American "pilgrims" interacting with their
hosts. When she finally recorded her razor sharp observations in Karma
Cola, the book became an instant classic for describing, in merciless
detail, what happens when the traditions of an ancient and longlived
society are turned into commodities and sold to those who don't
understand them.

In the dazzling prose that has become her trademark, Mehta skewers the
entire Spectrum of seekers: The Beatles, homeless students, Hollywood
rich kids in detox, British guilt-trippers, and more. In doing so, she
also reveals the devastating byproducts that the Westerners brought to
the villages of rural lndia -- high anxiety and drug addiction among
them.

Brilliantly irreverent, Karma Cola displays Gita Mehta's gift for
weaving old and new, common and bizarre, history and current events
into a seamless and colorful narrative that is at once witty,
shocking, and poignant.
Alle Produktbeschreibungen

http://www.amazon.de/Karma-Cola-Gita-Mehta/dp/0749390697

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Karma Cola

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Die hilfreichste positive Rezension Die hilfreichste kritische
Rezension

3 von 3 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Amazing

Ms. Mehta is undoubtedly the best Indian author alive!
I dothink the person who wrote the two sentence review probably does
not know the meaning of 'trash'. 'Trash' is the heaps and heaps of
books that get published every year in the US and somehow make it to
the NY Times best seller list just beacuse Oprah thinks it is a good
book or because it can be made into a tv...

Vollständige Rezension lesen ›
Veröffentlicht am 20. April 2000 von SL

› Weitere Rezensionen anzeigen: 5 Sterne, 4 Sterne

1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:

Useful & entertaining
Humorous description of overseas visitors looking to India for
spiritual enlightenment twenty years ago. I read this while visiting
Pune, India, location of Bhagavan Shri Rajnish's ashram, which made it
even more appropriate. Very entertaining & perceptive.

The book is not about India--it is about Western misperception of
India.

Veröffentlicht am 29. Januar 2000 von J. G. Heiser


0 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Decent but nothing special, 21. Juni 2000
Von Meredith Billman Mani -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East
(Vintage International) (Taschenbuch)
While Ms. Metha is an extremely talented writer I find it distracting
to have to wade through her obvious attempts to describe every minute
detail to the reader. It gets to be too much. This is a nice book that
offers (too much) description and a very one sided view of India.
She's writing for an American audience and it's as though she wants
them to laugh at the customs and norms in India. This is not my
favorite book on india or even by the author. This is a middle of the
road book as far as I'm concerned. I don't hate it, but then again I
don't love it either.

0 von 2 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
This book is not good., 5. Mai 2000
Von Ein Kunde

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola (Taschenbuch)
This book mocks europeans and americans who have earnestly gone to
India to seek out "enlightenment" and an element of spirituality that
they think is lacking in their home cultures. Gita Mehta employs all
sorts of cliches and negative stereotypes to depict this class of
"foreigner" in India. This is not a very challenging literary task.
Her language is as slick and taught as advertising text. Sometimes
clever, but more often simply rank and mean, Mehta indulges in trite
pseudo subaltern "slamming" of hippies and spiritual seekers.

I wonder what Mehta's reaction would be if an American author started
penning stories of the immature, body-stenched, fashion impaired
Indian immigrants who flock to America to shop in outlet malls and
stuff their cheap luggage full of cheaper nick-nacks for the glass
bureaus back in Delhi and Dehra Dun...

Everyone is looking for something: Westerners look for something
spiritual in India / Indians look for something material in the West.

And you are looking for my opinion on this book: dont waste your time
with this one -- go buy a Rushdie novel you don't already have.

3 von 3 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Amazing, 20. April 2000
Von SL (OakPark, IL) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola (Taschenbuch)
Ms. Mehta is undoubtedly the best Indian author alive!
I dothink the person who wrote the two sentence review probably does
not know the meaning of 'trash'. 'Trash' is the heaps and heaps of
books that get published every year in the US and somehow make it to
the NY Times best seller list just beacuse Oprah thinks it is a good
book or because it can be made into a tv movie.

This book is a classic. Her use of the language is extra-ordinary. She
touches on the most 'Indian' of values with a great sense of humor and
almost trivialises them. She makes you really think about issues that
matter and drove(still drive) thousands of Westerners to India. She
has also done a great job of contrasting the Eastern and Western view
of life, death and everything spiritual.

1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Useful & entertaining, 29. Januar 2000
Von J. G. Heiser (Sunninghill, Berks) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola (Taschenbuch)
Humorous description of overseas visitors looking to India for
spiritual enlightenment twenty years ago. I read this while visiting
Pune, India, location of Bhagavan Shri Rajnish's ashram, which made it
even more appropriate. Very entertaining & perceptive.
The book is not about India--it is about Western misperception of
India.

1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
An Essential Book for Travelers to India, 29. Dezember 1999
Von Peter Theis (Minneapolis, USA) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola (Taschenbuch)
This book is a must-read for those travelers bound for India,
especially for those seeking enlightenment. I lived in Varanasi for a
year, and I met many travelers who believed that India was some sort
of textbook Hindu holy land. These people lived in their ideas,
creating a shield around them that kept real India out. Karma Cola
helps show that India isn't a book-ideal made up of gurus and yogis
performing divine-inspired miracles on every street corner. It shows
that India, like any other country, is made up of people: helpful
people and crooks, prude people and perverts. If you go to India,
don't go there to experience some sort of religious miracle. Go there
to see real India and meet real Indians, and read this book before you
go!

0 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
A 'scholarly' (not!) book, 3. August 1999
Von Ein Kunde

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East
(Vintage International) (Taschenbuch)
Nothing but trash! I can not believe that this stupid book is
recommended reading by Lonely Planet!


Witty at times, cynical at others, 30. Juli 1999
Von Michael Washbrooke (Sydney, Australia) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East
(Vintage International) (Taschenbuch)
Written so as to remind each of us that there's a sucker (or seeker)
born every minute, Mehta's book shows us how easy it is to fool
gullible Westerners looking for enlightenment, and that there's a big
difference between open-hearted curiosity and gullibility. Westerners
created a market for gurus, and India filled it. But somewhere among
the amusing anecdotes that Mehta relates in a clucking tongue there's
a tale that's really rather sad. On the whole, I enjoyed the book and
found it witty and amusing, but thought it was perhaps a little
satisfied at its own superiority. For anybody thinking about going to
India to "find themselves," it would be a good primer.

Another thought, 13. Juli 1998
Von ***@aol.com (Washington, DC) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East
(Vintage International) (Taschenbuch)

In addition to what I've already written, let me also state that the
book is also a criticism of Indians who capitalize on westerners' need
for spiritual fulfillment. On a personal note about the Chapter in
which the illegal route from Pakistan to India is discovered and the
foreigners coming through that route by taking advantage of the
hospitality of the villagers, this is not uncommon even today. I've
had several people stay at my house who basically used me as a cheap
place to stay and without even thanking me for cooking for them or
providing them with a roof over their heads. The ability to take
unashamedly persists. Hospitality is one of the greatest things about
Indian/South Asian culture, but as Mehta demonstrates in the chapter,
it also exposes Indians to a great deal of abuse as anyone who's had
an ungracious house guest can testify.

Not the usual view of India, 7. Februar 1998
Von ***@gnosys.co.nz (New Zealand) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East
(Vintage International) (Taschenbuch)
Karma Cola is definitely required reading for any westerner interested
in things Indian or perhaps contemplating hitting the Dharma trail.
Its recognition that misunderstanding goes both ways (eg. the
anecdotes about gurus treatment of their Western students) is a good
reality check for those of us whose spiritual search has taken us
there. Ms Mehta gently reminds us that trying to absorb 5000 years of
experience and living may take a little more than a few weeks of squat
loos, and some Om Mani Padme Hums.

This is the first time I've ever read a book about the move of Eastern
thought into the West which was not written by a Westerner. In some
ways sobering, it is also witty and at times poignant.

By the way, an earlier reviewer lambasted the author for attributing
the wrong language to clerks from Kerala. That mistake has been fixed
in the edition I have (Minerva 1997 paperback).

Sucks!!!, 15. Dezember 1997
Von ***@zonker.ecs.umass.edu (Amherst, MA) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola (Taschenbuch)
Pardon me, but the author's ignorance is showing. The book has very
little to do with reality and panders to every fear and stereotype in
the mind of an Western audience. Here is an instance of the author's
ignorance, a quote from Chapter VI titled Behind the Urine Curtain,
Section 3 (pg 84 in the Vintage paper back edition)-she is talking
about the different people who use the local trains in Mumbai- "There
to the left is a clutch of stiletto-heeled and skirted Goan
secretaries, exchanging office gossip in Portuguese. Close behind them
are the Kerala clerks in white bush shirts and gray trousers,
conversing in (emphasis mine)*KANNADA*". Now anyone with an iota of
knowledge about India and its languages will know that the people of
Kerala speak Malayalam and not Kannada which is the language of the
neighboring Karnataka. Malayalam and Kannada are not obscure tongues
but are each spoken by atleast a few million people. Someone who
doesnt even know this should NOT set out writing a book about India.
Makes one wonder at the autheticity of the other anecdotes in the
book. Throwing in some high sounding philosophical jargon does not
make a book intellectual either (Chapter XIII- Om is Where the Heart
is). In all a very pathetic attempt to make a quick buck out of the
"mystic" of the East. She seems to be the one living up to her book's
title- Karma Cola- Marketing the Mystic East.

A look at the consequences of India's "spiritual draw"., 1. Dezember
1997
Von Ein Kunde

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola (Taschenbuch)
An interesting look at what draws "spiritually starved" westerners to
India and the consequential fallout. The author assumes a lot from the
reader, particularly a working knowledge of spoken French and a
rudimentary understanding of Hindu mythology. I'm lacking on both
accounts so a lot of the book went over my head. One particular
passage that sounds to me like it's important but I didn't fully
appreciate, was the one where she is talking about the meaning of
Karma and its perverted meaning by westerners. She relates the story,
from the Bhagavad Gita, of Arjuna asking Krishna why he needs to go to
war when understanding is superior to action in this case. Krishna
answers that one is bound by action and that only by acting can one be
free of the bondage of action. "That is exactly Karma" says the
author. Now, here is where I have a problem, probably because of my
limited understanding of Hinduism. *I* thought that Karma had to do
with the totallity of ones actions and is *the* factor determining
your next level of reincarnation. What the author seems to be implying
is that Karma is, instead, the bondage of action, i.e. fate. That is,
karma is the thing which predefines our actions rather than the
measure of our actions. I am confused ..... On the other hand, her
very pragmatic telling of the western approach to "instant nirvana"
and the "distressed westerner" abdicating to the nearest Guru is
actually quite refreshing and devoid of the mythical. :-) However,not
quite so overtly there is the implication that the invasion of
confused westerners has had a very destructive impact of the lives of
ordinary Indians. When relating the story of the westerners who
figured out a illegal route into India from Pakistan by taking
advantage of the hospitality of Indians, the protaganist of the story
is said to have said "One cannot make an omelet without breaking some
eggs". The author continues by saying, "and from where I stand the
ground is covered with broken egg shells". This I found quite sad ....
the narcissistic westerners completely lacking in self-restraint and
enough appreciation to understand that the path of "enlightenment"
requires endurance and cannot be delivered at will. Mind you that's
what Christianity preaches; just give your faith to god and you will
be saved. Where is the prerequisite toil and self-sacrifice?

An excellent book on the "other" perspective., 1. Dezember 1997
Von Ein Kunde

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East
(Vintage International) (Taschenbuch)

This is an excellent book for those who want to know what "sensible"
South Asians think about the appropriation and manipulation of their
culture. I'm sure that it would seem rather acerbic to those who
control the discourse on culture and identity but every once in a
while a book comes along and gives voice to the perspective of the
"other." Those of us who have seen their karma, their food, their
noserings, their clothes and their cultural, religious and national
symbols reinvented, recycled and resignified will appreciate this book
as an attempt to point out the folly of such doings. For westerners,
this is like looking in a mirror that does not lie.

A rather cranky view of westerners in India., 16. August 1997
Von ***@alaska.net (Girdwood, Alaska) -

Rezension übernommen von: Karma Cola (Taschenbuch)
The author has some fun describing the follies and adventures of
westerners in India, but falls into the "more Hindu than thou" mode a
bit. An interesting read.

http://www.amazon.de/product-reviews/0749390697/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Produktinformation

Taschenbuch: 944 Seiten
Verlag: St. Martin's Press; Auflage: Reprint (November 2005)
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN-10: 0312330537
ISBN-13: 978-0312330538
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 20,8 x 13,7 x 4,3 cm
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Produktbeschreibungen
Amazon.com

Crime and punishment, passion and loyalty, betrayal and redemption are
only a few of the ingredients in Shantaram, a massive, over-the-top,
mostly autobiographical novel. Shantaram is the name given Mr.
Lindsay, or Linbaba, the larger-than-life hero. It means "man of God's
peace," which is what the Indian people know of Lin. What they do not
know is that prior to his arrival in Bombay he escaped from an
Australian prison where he had begun serving a 19-year sentence. He
served two years and leaped over the wall. He was imprisoned for a
string of armed robberies peformed to support his heroin addiction,
which started when his marriage fell apart and he lost custody of his
daughter. All of that is enough for several lifetimes, but for Greg
Roberts, that's only the beginning.

He arrives in Bombay with little money, an assumed name, false papers,
an untellable past, and no plans for the future. Fortunately, he meets
Prabaker right away, a sweet, smiling man who is a street guide. He
takes to Lin immediately, eventually introducing him to his home
village, where they end up living for six months. When they return to
Bombay, they take up residence in a sprawling illegal slum of 25,000
people and Linbaba becomes the resident "doctor." With a prison
knowledge of first aid and whatever medicines he can cadge from doing
trades with the local Mafia, he sets up a practice and is regarded as
heaven-sent by these poor people who have nothing but illness, rat
bites, dysentery, and anemia. He also meets Karla, an enigmatic Swiss-
American woman, with whom he falls in love. Theirs is a complicated
relationship, and Karla’s connections are murky from the outset.

Roberts is not reluctant to wax poetic; in fact, some of his prose is
downright embarrassing. Throughought the novel, however, all 944 pages
of it, every single sentence rings true. He is a tough guy with a
tender heart, one capable of what is judged criminal behavior, but a
basically decent, intelligent man who would never intentionally hurt
anyone, especially anyone he knew. He is a magnet for trouble, a
soldier of fortune, a picaresque hero: the rascal who lives by his
wits in a corrupt society. His story is irresistible. Stay tuned for
the prequel and the sequel. --Valerie Ryan -- Dieser Text bezieht sich
auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of this massive, thrillingly undomesticated potboiler, a
young Australian man bearing a false New Zealand passport that gives
his name as "Lindsay" flies to Bombay some time in the early '80s. On
his first day there, Lindsay meets the two people who will largely
influence his fate in the city. One is a young tour guide, Prabaker,
whose gifts include a large smile and an unstoppably joyful heart.
Through Prabaker, Lindsay learns Marathi (a language not often spoken
by gora, or foreigners), gets to know village India and settles, for a
time, in a vast shantytown, operating an illicit free clinic. The
second person he meets is Karla, a beautiful Swiss-American woman with
sea-green eyes and a circle of expatriate friends. Lin's love for Karla
—and her mysterious inability to love in return—gives the book its
central tension. "Linbaba's" life in the slum abruptly ends when he is
arrested without charge and thrown into the hell of Arthur Road
Prison. Upon his release, he moves from the slum and begins laundering
money and forging passports for one of the heads of the Bombay mafia,
guru/sage Abdel Khader Khan. Eventually, he follows Khader as an
improbable guerrilla in the war against the Russians in Afghanistan.
There he learns about Karla's connection to Khader and discovers who
set him up for arrest. Roberts, who wrote the first drafts of the
novel in prison, has poured everything he knows into this book and it
shows. It has a heartfelt, cinemascope feel. If there are occasional
passages that would make the very angels of purple prose weep, there
are also images, plots, characters, philosophical dialogues and
mysteries that more than compensate for the novel's flaws. A
sensational read, it might well reproduce its bestselling success in
Australia here.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier
Inc. All rights reserved. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere
Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .
From Booklist

A thousand pages is like a thousand pounds--it sounds like too much to
deal with. Nevertheless, Roberts' very long novel sails along at an
amazingly fast clip. Readers in the author's native Australia
apparently finished every page of it, for they handed it considerable
praise. Now U.S. readers can enjoy this rich saga based on Roberts'
own life: escape from a prison in Australia and a subsequent flight to
Bombay, which is exactly what happens to Lindsay, the main character
in the novel; once in Bombay, he joins the city's underground. Roberts
graphically, even beautifully, evokes that milieu--he is as effective
at imparting impressions as any good travel writer--in this complex
but cohesive story about freedom and the lack of it, about survival,
spiritual meaning, love, and sex; in other words, about life in what
has to be one of the most fascinating cities in the world. One's first
impression of this novel is that it is simply a good story, but one
soon comes to realize that Roberts is also a gifted creator of
characters--not only Lindsay but also Prabaker, who becomes Lindsay's
guide, caretaker, and entree into various elements of Bombay society.
Soon, too, one becomes aware and appreciative of Roberts' felicitous
writing style. In all, despite the novel's length, it is difficult not
to be ensnared by it. And, be forewarned, it will be popular. Brad
Hooper

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --
Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

Pressestimmen

"Shantaram is a novel of the first order, a work of extraordinary art,
a thing of exceptional beauty. If someone asked me what the book was
about, I would have to say everything, every thing in the world.
Gregory David Roberts does for Bombay what Lawrence Durrell did for
Alexandria, what Melville did for the South Seas, and what Thoreau did
for Walden Pond: He makes it an eternal player in the literature of
the world."

- Pat Conroy

"Shantaram has provided me with the richest reading experience to date
and I don't expect anybody to unseat its all-round performance for a
long time. It is seductive, powerful, complex, and blessed with a
perfect voice. Like a voodoo ghost snatcher, Gregory David Roberts has
captured the spirits of the likes of Henri Charrière, Rohinton Mistry,
Tom Wolfe, and Mario Vargas Llosa, fused them with his own unique
magic, and built the most gripping monument in print. The land of the
god Ganesh has unchained the elephant, and with the monster running
amok, I tremble for the brave soul dreaming of writing a novel about
India. Gregory David Roberts is a suitable giant, a dazzling guru, and
a genius in full."

- Moses Isegawa, author of Abyssinian Chronicles and Snakepit

"Shantaram is, quite simply, the 1001 Arabian Nights of the new
century. Anyone who loves to read has been looking for this book all
their reading life. Anyone who walks away from Shantaram untouched is
either heartless or dead or both. I haven't had such a wonderful time
in years."

- Jonathan Carroll, author of White Apples

"Shantaram is dazzling. More importantly, it offers a lesson...that
those we incarcerate are human beings. They deserve to be treated with
dignity. Some of them, after all, may be exceptional. Some may even
possess genius."

- Ayelet Waldman, author of Crossing the Park

“Utterly unique, absolutely audacious, and wonderfully wild, Shantaram
is sure to catch even the most fantastic of imaginations off guard.”

---Elle

“Shantaram had me hooked from the first sentence. [It] is thrilling,
touching, frightening...a glorious wallow of a novel.”

---Detroit Free Press

“[A] sprawling, intelligent novel…full of vibrant characters…the
exuberance of his prose is refreshing…Roberts brings us through
Bombay’s slums and opium houses, its prostitution dens and ex-pat
bars, saying, You come now. And we follow.”

---The Washington Post

"Inspired storytelling."

--People

“Vivid, entertaining. Its visceral, cinematic descriptive beauty truly
impresses.”

--USA Today

“Few stand out quite like Shantaram …nothing if not entertaining.
Sometimes a big story is its own best reward.”

--The New York Times

"...very good...vast of vision and breadth."

--Time Out

“This massive autobiographical novel draws heavily from Roberts’ vida
loca. Don’t let the size scare you away – Shantaram is one of the most
gripping tales of personal redemption you’ll ever read.”

--Giant Magazine

“This reviewer is amazed that Roberts is here to write anything.
Swallowed up by the abyss, somehow he crawled out intact….His love for
other people was his salvation…Powerful books can change our lives.
The potency of Shantaram is the joy of forgiveness. First we must
regret, then forgive. Forgiveness is a beacon in the blackness.”

--Dayton Daily News

" Shantaram is loads of colorful fun, [it] rises to something grand in
its evocations of the pungent chaos of Bombay. "
--Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Shantaram is a true epic. It is a huge, messy, over-the-top
irresistible shaggy-dog story.”
--The Seattle Times

Kurzbeschreibung

A stunning debut novel based on the author's dramatic and
extraordinary true story. After escaping from a maximum-security
prison, Roberts hid in Bombay, establishing a medical clinic, working
in Bollywood and joining the mafia. A gripping and superbly written
adventure story which will receive review and feature coverage. "A
masterpiece...sure to be a bestseller around the world" "The Age" --
Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare
Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Über den Autor

Gregory David Roberts was born in Melbourne, Australia. Sentenced to
nineteen years in prison for a series of armed robberies, he escaped
and spent ten of his fugitive years in Bombay---where he established a
free medical clinic for slum-dwellers, and worked as a counterfeiter,
smuggler, gunrunner, and street soldier for a branch of the Bombay
mafia. Recaptured, he served out his sentence, and established a
successful multimedia company upon his release. Roberts is a now full-
time writer and lives in Bombay.

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Die hilfreichste positive Rezension Die hilfreichste kritische
Rezension

21 von 21 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Shantaram

I grew up in Bombay in the fifties and early sixties, and have not
visited the city for the past odd 20 years. This amazing book has
basically summed up life in one of the most fascinating cities in the
world. Besides the adventure, which is unique in itself, the author
has managed a description of the city and its unbelievable vibrant
atmosphere and street life to pass...
Vollständige Rezension lesen ›

Veröffentlicht am 21. Januar 2005 von Simon Khosla


› Weitere Rezensionen anzeigen: 5 Sterne, 4 Sterne
8 von 8 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Weniger ist mehr

Shantaram - wärmstens empfohlen nicht nur von Amazon-Usern und deren
Rezensionen, sondern unter anderem auch aufgrund vieler positiver
Berichte in diversen Zeitschriften. Nachdem ich nun die 932 Seiten
"geschafft" habe zu lesen, wusste ich nicht recht ob ich zufrieden war
mit dem Buch oder ob ein wenig die Enttäuschung überwog.

Das Buch ist in 5 Teile...
Vollständige Rezension lesen ›
Vor 8 Monaten von Chevy veröffentlicht

21 von 21 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Shantaram, 21. Januar 2005
Von Simon Khosla (Schaffhausen, Switzerland) -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram (Gebundene Ausgabe)
I grew up in Bombay in the fifties and early sixties, and have not
visited the city for the past odd 20 years. This amazing book has
basically summed up life in one of the most fascinating cities in the
world. Besides the adventure, which is unique in itself, the author
has managed a description of the city and its unbelievable vibrant
atmosphere and street life to pass like a film in front of ones eyes.
It is the best book I have ever read about the city.

8 von 8 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Weniger ist mehr, 1. Juli 2009
Von Chevy -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Shantaram - wärmstens empfohlen nicht nur von Amazon-Usern und deren
Rezensionen, sondern unter anderem auch aufgrund vieler positiver
Berichte in diversen Zeitschriften. Nachdem ich nun die 932 Seiten
"geschafft" habe zu lesen, wusste ich nicht recht ob ich zufrieden war
mit dem Buch oder ob ein wenig die Enttäuschung überwog.

Das Buch ist in 5 Teile untergliedert, zu insgesamt 43 Kapitel. Bis
zum Ende des 3. Teiles war ich schwer begeistert wie Roberts über
seine Flucht, sein Untertauchen, das indische Dorfleben, das Leben im
Slum oder aber auch über die Menschen die er trifft und liebt
schreibt, teilweise auch sehr humorvoll. Er malt viele der Szenen,
teilweise bis ins Detail beschrieben, sehr ausgiebig.

Allerdings hat der Autor ein großes Manko. Respekt davor was der Autor
erlebt haben möchte (da die Rahmengeschichte ja doch irgendwie der
Realität entspricht), allerdings scheint es, vor allem gegen Ende des
Romans, sehr oft, als Lobe sich der Autor selbst. Teilweise kämpft er
alle drei Seiten gegen einen neuen Gegner und beschreibt detailliert
wie er diese zumeist K.O. schlägt. Auch die Storyline nimmt mit den
letzten zwei Kapiteln, der Mafia und Aufghanistan stark ab, der Roman
wird zu sehr in die Länge gezogen. Dies ist natürlich sehr schade, da
es zu Beginn wie gesagt ein Buch war das ich den meisten Leuten blind
empfehlen würde. Philosophisch gesehen birgt der Roman Ansätze über
einen evtl Sinn des Lebens, allerdings motivieren diese aber nicht,
sich weiter damit auseinanderzusetzen.

Alles in allem kann ich das Buch als Urlaubsroman empfehlen, aber auch
nur denjenigen, denen Kampfszenen nichts ausmachen. Wirklich
empfehlenswert meinerseits sind daher eigentlich nur die ersten 3
Teile. Deshalb auch die 3 von 5 Sternen.

19 von 21 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Hail Shantaram!, 15. April 2005
Von "kojanko" -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
This book is simply amazing.
It is a classic adventure book first of all, filled with deep
realizations about life, love and death. It is beautifully crafted,
and Gregory Roberts writing style is gripping, colorful and profoundly
simple (in the best way). It always displays an honesty and
authenticity even in the most outragous moments of this tale - and
there are many of those. Shantaram is everything a reader could ever
want from a book - it is poetic, moving, philosophical and extremely
alive. You'll be very sorry when you get to the last of the 900+
pages.

Very sorry, indeed.

Read it.

11 von 12 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
An epic novel set in India, 21. Juni 2005
Von Philippe Horak (Zug, Switzerland) -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram (Gebundene Ausgabe)
Mr Roberts's voluminous novel tells the story of one narrator who
escaped from prison in Australia and travelled to Bombay on a false
New Zealand passport. He doesn't devote much time talking about his
criminal activities in his home country apart from stating that he
used to rob banks and deal in drugs and then chose to abandon his wife
and children for the life of a fugitive. Upon his arrival in the
Indian capital, he met Prabaker Kharre, a loveable character who
showed him round the city, particularly the areas rarely visited by
mainstream tourists. At Leopold's, a bar where illegal business is
conducted by many Indians and a few foreigners, the narrator was
introduced to Karla Saaranen, a beautiful woman who is often the
object of his thoughts throughout the novel due to the difficulty she
has in feeling love for anyone.

As he settled down in Bombay, he learned to speak Marathi and Hindi
and during the adventurous years he spent in the city he became
acquainted with a whole array of characters and he became to be known
as Lin, Linbaba or Shantaram. The most impressive passages in the
novel are the narrator's visit to Prabaker's native village of Sunder,
his work in the zhopadpatti slum, his experience with the monsoon and
the cholera, his work for Abdel Khader Khan and the Bombay Mafia, his
stays at the Arthur Road Prison and the Colaba lock-up and finally his
fight for the mujaheddin cause in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts wonderfully shows both the generosity and the violence of
the Indian people's character. The spirit of Bombay is rendered in
splendid descriptions so that altogether this novel is thoroughly
enjoyable to read.

10 von 11 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Ein grossartiges Werk!, 13. Mai 2008
Von Don Paesano "retito" -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Ich konnte das Buch für volle vier Tage nicht aus den Händen legen.
Ich las immer und überall, während dem Essen, auf dem Klo, auf dem Weg
zum Klo, auf dem Rückweg vom Klo. Und schliesslich mit einer
Stirnlampe in der Hängematte. Das Buch nimmt einem mit auf eine Reise
mit David Roberts, die durch ein Indien führt wie ich es noch nie
beschrieben bekommen habe. Die Geschichte geht vorwärts wie ein
Güterzug. Seite für Seite etwas Neues, Aufregendes, Spannendes. Die
Sprache ist gut verständlich und wunderschön geschrieben. Ich
schliesse mich meinen Vorrednern nicht an, die die Philosophie zum
Teil als "cheesy" beschreiben. Ich war vielmehr beeindruckt vom Autor,
diesem unglaublichen Typen, der Dinge erlebt und so wunderbar
beschreibt, die weit weit über übliche "Reiseerfahrungen" hinweg
reichen.
Das Buch hat mich zum Lachen gebracht und mich zu Tränen gerührt. Es
war keine Seite (!) langweilig. Im Gegenteil. Fesseln, spannend,
intensiv, fordernd. Das Ende, wie viele Abschnitte zuvor, musste ich
gleich mehrmals lesen...Gänsehaut!

Habe das Buch bereits x-mal verschenkt - uneingeschränkter Lesetip!

3 von 3 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Biblische Geschichten, 31. Mai 2009
Von Helmut Janus -

Erschöpft bin ich nach 933 Seiten am Ende der englischen Ausgabe von
Shantaram angekommen. Das Buch ist durchgehend gut zu lesen. Es gibt
eine unglaubliche Fülle an spannenden Episoden, gut geschriebenen
Dialogen, interessanten Typen, Milieuschilderungen und
Hintergrundgeschichten. Das alles ist in der Inhaltsangabe schon
ausführlich beschrieben worden. Womit ich allerdings meine
Schwierigkeiten hatte, war das Ego des Autors und seine philosophisch-
religiöse Grundeinstellung. Die ganze abenteuerliche Lebensgeschichte
handelt vom Suchen nach dem Guten im Menschen, von immer neuen
Versuchungen, Fehlschlägen und schließlich doch dem Sieg des Guten,
Gerechten und Liebenden. Es sind nicht einzelne philosophische
Schwafeleien, die die Handlung unterbrechen, sondern alles, was
Roberts erzählt, ordnet sich diesem Muster unter. Wenn er in Kämpfe
verwickelt ist, streicht er seine Fähigkeiten als Messerstecher
heraus, aber im entscheidenden Augenblick sticht er ordentlich ins
Fleisch seines Gegners, bringt ihn aber nicht um. Wenn er nach Monaten
einer unfassbaren Tortur aus dem Gefängnis frei kommt, versäumt er es
nicht, noch ein paar Mitgefangene zu retten. Wenn er aus Verzweiflung
wieder Heroin nimmt, dann auch richtig, indem er drei Monate in einer
Opiumhöhle abtaucht und anschließend durch die Hölle des "cold turkey"
geht.

Es sind biblische Geschichten in modernem Gewand, die Roberts erzählt,
die Läuterung vom Saulus zum Paulus. Aus Neugier habe ich mir seine
Website angesehen, und hier entwickelt er auch seine Philosophie von
der "cosmosophy". Ich bin nicht in die Details eingestiegen und habe
dazu auch keine große Lust, weil ich Bücher lese, um mich unterhalten
und zum Nachdenken anregen zu lassen, nicht aber um mir den großen
Wurf einer Welterklärung anzutun. Shantaram lässt mich etwas ratlos
zurück. Vielleicht muss ein solcher Eifer sein, um ein so gigantisches
Werk zustande zu bringen.

7 von 9 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Amazing, 21. August 2006
Von danyboy "eternalflame2" (Brunnen, Schweiz) -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
I have not yet finished reading this book but I already need to
comment on this masterpiece. Shantaram may not be a flawless work and
parts of the book and especially sometimes the imagery and phrases
used appear a bit cheesy. A few comparisons and philosophical thoughts
are either a bit far-fetched or very general and superficial.

This may sound like a book of which one can use the paper to lit a
fire with on a cold winter day. BUT, despite some (undisputable) flaws
I give the book 4 stars because it, nevertheless, has become one of my
favourite books. The amazing and outstanding qualities of the book let
you forget the (minor) flaws mentioned above.

The story is thrilling, funny and never boring. One starts to feel
that what this guy writes is what he really experienced (at least most
of it) and I prefer an honest, true, heart-breaking, interesting story
with a few stylistic flaws to over-intellectual, cold and too perfect
works by some acclaimed literary authors. This is the story of a man's
life, which is far from being a common, everyday one. Let me tell you
one thing: this man has got a lot to tell you. Buy the book, sit down,
make yourself comfortable and dive into the world of Greg David
Roberts. I bet you won't regret it...

4 von 5 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
One of the best books ever!!!, 1. Juni 2005
Von "natalie0208" -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Shantaram is one of the best books I ever read, and I read an awful
lot!!! The Author has a great gift of storytelling, the plot is
terrific, his descriptions of the places, the people, their culture is
absolutely gorgeous. So don't hesitate, read this book, it is worth
every cent and you'll not put it down till you reach the last page.

1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
A definite MUST-READ!, 23. September 2009
Von S. Gould -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Others have already given this book the raving reviews it deserves. I
won't attempt to add to their comments, except to simply say that you
shouldn't be put-off by the size of this book - once you start reading
it you won't be able to put it down! (and will sadly be through it
faster than you wished!)

1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
einfach nur klasse, 23. Juni 2009
Von bücher-wurm "leo3009" -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Ein faszinierendes Buch, das ich nur empfehlen kann. Die plastische
Darstellung des Autors läßt einen in eine komplett fremde Welt
versinken. Extrem gut geschrieben, spannend (zugegebenermaßen hast das
Buch zwischendurch ein paar Längen, die aber die Gesamtheit für mich
nicht beeinträchtigen) und manchmal auch sehr hart, so daß ich bewußt
das Buch zur Seite gelegt habe um die Passagen zu verdauen.
Prinzipiell langweilen mich Kriegsbeschreibungen, aber Gregory Roberts
hat es ausgezeichnet verstanden, auch solche Themen dem Leser nahe zu
bringen. Den Leser erwartet eine große Portion Philosophie, vielleicht
neuer Denkansätze, und das Buch entführt somit in eine (zumindest für
mich) absolut fremde Lebensweise. Wer einmal über den eigenen
Tellerrand hinauschauen möchte, ist genau richtig. Ob man die
Entscheidungen von "Lindsay" verstehen kann oder nicht, auf jeden Fall
ist großer Unterhaltungswert garantiert! Ich freue mich auf die
Verfilmung.

1 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
The Heart of India, 21. Mai 2009
Von R. Müller-Heinrich "Goldkalb" (Pulheim, Deutschland) -

I have read many books on India and spent time in Bombay and Delhi. No
book, no sojourn has brought me so close to and deeply into the Heart
of India. The simplicity of style, the at times almost brutal honesty
of Gregory Roberts, the expressions of love for the people he met, the
lessons he learned, remind me of Barack Obama's "Dreams from my
Father". Shantaram is an amazing book which lets you feel you are
there. You feel the humid heat of Bombay, you smell all the smells,
good or bad, you see the purple sunset, you are amongst his friends
and could almost touch them. You could find your way into the slum and
feel sure of a welcome, even as a stranger. I felt encompassed by
Prabaker's smile, felt the loyalty of Lin's friends as if they were
mine. I felt the struggles Lin went through to find his way in life,
as if they were my own. I never could condemn him for his "evil"
deeds, as he was giving all the love he had to give at the same time.
As someone already said, I was very sorry when I came to the last
page, because it meant coming back to my own world, like after a
holiday. And my world seems drab and poor, though I don't live in a
slum. And no news report has shown me the futility, the atrocity, the
heart-wrenching sadness of Afghans killing their Afghan brothers,
supported by profit-seeking Americans and Russians for their own
goals. Shantaram. (Abacus)

6 von 8 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Spitze, 26. Juli 2006
Von Frank Bittermann -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram (Gebundene Ausgabe)
Durch die Meldung von Querelen bei der Produktionsvorbereitung des
Films von und mit Jonny Depp bin ich auf diesen Roman aufmerksam
geworden. Auch muss ich zugeben, dass ich Indien immer noch für heiss,
schmutzig und völlig überbevölkert halte, aber dieses Buch hat mir die
Menschen dort näher gebracht. Ein von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite
spannender, lustige, trauriger und vor allem nachdenkenswerter
Schmöker. Ein durchweg gelungenes Erstlingswerk, bei dem ich auf einen
Nachfolger hoffe, denn der Autor hat offensichtlich soviele Abenteuer
erlebt, da kann man nur mit den Ohren schlackern...

Well-read mix of Bombay life, with mafia-cheese and self-
indulgence, 6. Februar 2010
Von Jakarta_expat (Indonesien) -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram (Audio CD)
Shantaram No doubt about it, from the moment the story teller embarks
from the plane to sticky Bombay, the reader is hooked and will press
on to read about slum dwellers, their modes of survivals, boozy white
expats making a living in Bombay and other exciting stuff. The problem
is: The whole long book is mixed with a sense of self-indulgence by
the author lecturing us on life and philosophy. Which alone is not so
bad would he not to press on to tell the most boring love story ever
put into writing. the book is worth your time if you are interested in
India, slum life, street fighting and wanna-be philosophic
excursions.

I listened to the unabridged audio book, and enjoyed the speaker's
different voices. He catches the Bombay accents very well (as far as I
can tell). The female characters annoying me most in the book are read
with a certain ironic "flat" tone as if the audio book reader would
share my feeling of boredom with them as well. Nice touch.

Book: ***, Unabridged audio production: ****

The Precursor to Slumdog Millionaire, if you like, 27. Dezember
2009
Von Oliver Koehler (Berlin, Germany) -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Not the best of stories [in terms of fairly imagery and love "scenes"]
but nevertheless so far a gritty tale of his descent into India's
underworld and his involvement in the Russian-Afghan war - with some
very vivid descriptions of the India that I have come to know and love
and hate over the past years! Nevertheless unputdownable... For a
quick fix if you've ever been to India and want to get past the colour
of the place, an eye-opener at times and a jaw-dropper too. What I did
like - although it has been a point of criticism in other reviews - is
the fact that it sometimes is very loosely constructed. After all, it
is suppoed to be an autobiography - or a memoir? Who knows?

Mind-blowing!, 28. November 2009
Von Stein Claudia Dr "Claudia Stein" (Genf, Schweiz) -

I have lived a couple of years in India in the 1990's (about 800 km
south of Bombay) and can only confirm that the ambience, the life, the
colours and smells of India truly come to life in this book. It is
honest and authentic but what makes this book an amazing piece of
literature is the fantastic story - because it is fantastically told.
I could hardly put the book down, although I would imagine that the
author may have taken some artistic licence in some of his
descriptions. This does not detract from the book which - no doubt -
will one day be a Holly/Bollywood movie. An absolute must-read.

Gripping from start to finish!, 1. Dezember 2008
Von Léonie M. "book fanatic" -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Shantaram is one of that kind of books that calls for a rainy or foggy
November day, for a cosy chair and a good, steaming Indian Darjeeling
cup of tea.
It is a strong and satisfying novel, with a taste that lingers the
memory.
I love it very much because of the first-person narrative and of a
wonderful, admirable writing style as well.

After escaping from an Australian most inhuman prison in the early
80s, Gregory David Roberts, an armed robber and heroin addict was
using the name Lindsay Ford from a false New Zealand passport for
smuggling himself to India to go underground in the slum of Bombay
(Mumbai). Since he escaped, he flew across the world because he was
the most wanted man of his country.

Here he tells his story about his first trip to India. Living in the
land where heart is the king, left everything behind, he was just
running on instinct and pushing his luck. Accordingly to his
experiences the simple and astonishing truth about India and Indian
people is that, when you go there and you deal with them, your heart
always guides you more wisely than your head. It was one of his best
decisions of his life as he trusted the Indian fellow on sight and he
got the chance to know and to love him as friend.

The luck led him to know a mysterious but beautiful woman, he has ever
seen, green-eyed Karla Saaranen, on his very first day on the street
of Bombay. She was reasonably good at being a friend, but at being an
enemy also. In his opinion Karla had that kind of power to make men
shine like the stars, or crash them to dust.
Lindsay learned some Indian languages Hindi, Marathi  but himself
became to be well known by the nicknames Lin, Linbaba, Shantaram or
even The Bite of the Tiger.
Using his first-aid kit as the basis, he established in poverty of
Bombay illegal slum a little open-air health clinic. Just trying to do
the right thing, he found often a quantum of solace in his work and by
his friends like Prabaker Kishan Kharre or Abdullah Taheri.

Fate put him into the game of the Bombay mafia. Worked as a gunrunner,
as a smuggler and a counterfeiter. He found some honourable men. Of
course, it is strange and incongrous to hear how he describes
criminals, killers, and mafiosi as men of honour who were amongst
them. Nevertheles, he had some strange experiences and this is the
extremly gripping story of his life, told with all his heart. It was a
real blow to him to be buffeled by fate but he kept on his aim at
writing under the hardest circumstances.

Now, Gregory David Roberts is a fulltime writer. He lives in
Melbourne.
He created the atmosphere of the slum in the suburbs of Bombay and its
events in the richest details. His enthralling debut novel tells an
adventure about love, hate, fight, betrayal and conspiracy. You can
get lost into for days, not just hours.

It is really worth reading!

4 von 6 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
One of the best books I 've ever read, 9. Oktober 2005
Von Mama Orange -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
This book is hard to put out of Your hand - it is intense and
adventurous, it is excellently written and it is full of deep
insight.

1 von 2 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Packender Schmöker!, 5. September 2008
Von Tina "Reading Is Great" (Wien) -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)
Toller, sehr gut zu lesender Roman!Lustig, gut geschrieben,
farbenreich. Wer in Indien war, wird vieles verstehen und
nachvollziehen können. Für Freunde von Schmökern, die nicht allzu tief
gehen und einfach aber extrem fesselnd zu lesen sind, ist dieses genau
und exakt das Richtige.LESEN!

1 von 2 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Always a new surprise, 4. Februar 2008
Von Hans-Curt Flemming "Amano" (Mülheim/Ruhr) -

This is a fascinating book which I could not leave alone - I had to
read it and was intrigued about what would come after the next corner.
And the next...
A completely new perspective of the Bombay slum and of the social
networks. Plus, the bittersweet love story. It is well written and
bears the touch of reality.
Absolutely worthy entertainment. I would be very much interested to
learn how he was captured finally and what he is doing now.

0 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Black Bombay, 9. Dezember 2009
Von N. I. Body -

Bei Shantaram handelt es sich unstrittig um eine der besten
Darstellungen von Bombay, bzw. Indien in den 80er Jahren des vorigen
Jahrhunderts. Es werden das Leben in den Slums, Kriminalität,
Korruption, Krankheiten und Brutalität in allen Details (944 Seiten)
geschildert.

Das Buch basiert mehr oder weniger auf dem bewegten Leben des Autors.
Wie er selbst angibt, hat er nicht alles, was er beschreibt erlebt,
sondern auch Teile der Geschichte frei erfunden. Stellenweise ist die
Story recht langatmig, es wird seitenlang über den Sinn des Lebens,
Sinn des Leidens, Vergebung, Liebe, Hass usw. diskutiert. Auch werden
belanglose Gespräche und Begegnungen der Hauptperson zum Teil wörtlich
wiedergegeben. Das führte dazu, dass ich manchmal die Seiten nur noch
überflog - bis die eigentliche Story wieder weiterging.

Was mich aber doch recht gestört hat, ist die Art, in der sich der
Autor, (zu 19 Jahren verurteilter Bankräuber; Ex-Junkie) selbst
darstellt. Seine Verbrechen rechtfertigt er mit seiner gescheiterten
Beziehung und seiner daraus resultierenden Heroinsucht. Nach seiner
Flucht aus dem Gefängnis (zu Beginn des Buches) wandelt er sich zu
weissem Ritter und Heiligen in einem. Den, ihn aufs übelste
folternden, indischen Gefängniswärtern "vergibt" er. Er ist offenbar
der "guteste Gutmensch" von ganz Bombay (so ekelhaft wie das klingt,
liest es sich stellenweise leider auch). Er hilft jedem - immerzu,
ohne Rücksicht auf sich selbst und ohne zu zögern. Dass er dabei aber
weiterhin kriminellen Machenschaften (Drogenhandel, Mafia, usw.)
nachgeht, ist für ihn offenbar ganz "normal". Diese Art der
Selbstdarstellung/-inszenierung beginnt mit der Zeit zu nerven.

In der unsympathischen Hauptfigur liegt zugleich auch das größte Manko
des Buches, neben der teilweise zu langatmigen Schilderung der
Ereignisse. Tip: Es lohnt sich, die "echte" Biografie des Autors im
Netz nachzulesen.

Anzumerken ist noch, dass in meinem Exemplar ca. 10-15 Seiten
unleserlich (zu Hell; Fehler beim Drucken) waren.

12 von 28 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Räucherstäbchen, 3. Juli 2007
Von agardenchair (Germany) -

Rezension übernommen von: Shantaram. (Abacus) (Taschenbuch)

Zugegeben, dies ist bestimmt ein ordentlich geschriebener
Abenteuerroman. Und er ist an manchen Stellen auch lustig. Sprachlich
bewegt er sich in etwa auf der Höhe eines Dan Brown, mit dem
Unterschied, daß Gregory D. Roberts eine Vorliebe für komplizierte
Adjektive hat. Sollte man eine weitere Vorliebe dieses Schriftstellers
angeben, so wäre man gezwungen, das Sammeln von Aphorismen anzuführen.
Mit dem Konvolut von unheimlich sinnreichen Sprüche, die in diesem
Buch angehäuft sind, könnte man ganze Abreißkalender ausstaffieren.
Beispiele: "Truth is a bully, you'd like to know", "Es war nicht die
Hölle, aber es gab keinen Himmel", etc. Wieso nicht einfach
weitermachen mit: "Manchmal ist das Leben nicht schwarz oder weiß,
sondern grau" oder "Es gibt Gutes und es gibt Schlechtes, aber
meistens bekommt man beides serviert", etc.?

An allen Ecken und Enden des Romans findet man diese sprachlichen
Räucherstäbchen, die Tiefe suggerieren wollen. Der Roman liest sich
stellenweise wie ein ausgesprochener Jugendroman. Hier wird der Sound
großer gleichnishafter Erzählungen im Stil von Hemingway oder Conrad
imitiert. Ein Nachfolger Hemingways oder Conrads ist der Autor deshalb
nicht.

12 von 28 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Räucherstäbchen, 3. Juli 2007
Von agardenchair

Zugegeben, dies ist bestimmt ein ordentlich geschriebener
Abenteuerroman. Und er ist an manchen Stellen auch lustig. Sprachlich
bewegt er sich in etwa auf der Höhe eines Dan Brown, mit dem
Unterschied, daß Gregory D. Roberts eine Vorliebe für komplizierte
Adjektive hat. Sollte man eine weitere Vorliebe dieses Schriftstellers
angeben, so wäre man gezwungen, das Sammeln von Aphorismen anzuführen.
Mit dem Konvolut von unheimlich sinnreichen Sprüche, die in diesem
Buch angehäuft sind, könnte man ganze Abreißkalender ausstaffieren.
Beispiele: "Truth is a bully, you'd like to know", "Es war nicht die
Hölle, aber es gab keinen Himmel", etc. Wieso nicht einfach
weitermachen mit: "Manchmal ist das Leben nicht schwarz oder weiß,
sondern grau" oder "Es gibt Gutes und es gibt Schlechtes, aber
meistens bekommt man beides serviert", etc.?

An allen Ecken und Enden des Romans findet man diese sprachlichen
Räucherstäbchen, die Tiefe suggerieren wollen. Der Roman liest sich
stellenweise wie ein ausgesprochener Jugendroman. Hier wird der Sound
großer gleichnishafter Erzählungen im Stil von Hemingway oder Conrad
imitiert. Ein Nachfolger Hemingways oder Conrads ist der Autor deshalb
nicht.

Shantaram. (Abacus) 0349117543 Gregory David Roberts Little, Brown
Book Group Shantaram. (Abacus) Alle Produkte Räucherstäbchen
Zugegeben, dies ist bestimmt ein ordentlich geschriebener
Abenteuerroman. Und er ist an manchen Stellen auch lustig. Sprachlich
bewegt er sich in etwa auf der Höhe eines Dan Brown, mit dem
Unterschied, daß Gregory D. Roberts eine Vorliebe für komplizierte
Adjektive hat. Sollte man eine weitere Vorliebe dieses Schriftstellers
angeben, so wäre man gezwungen, das Sammeln von Aphorismen anzuführen.
Mit dem Konvolut von unheimlich sinnreichen Sprüche, die in diesem
Buch angehäuft sind, könnte man ganze Abreißkalender ausstaffieren.
Beispiele: "Truth is a bully, you'd like to know", "Es war nicht die
Hölle, aber es gab keinen Himmel", etc. Wieso nicht einfach
weitermachen mit: "Manchmal ist das Leben nicht schwarz oder weiß,
sondern grau" oder "Es gibt Gutes und es gibt Schlechtes, aber
meistens bekommt man beides serviert", etc.?

An allen Ecken und Enden des Romans findet man diese sprachlichen
Räucherstäbchen, die Tiefe suggerieren wollen. Der Roman liest sich
stellenweise wie ein ausgesprochener Jugendroman. Hier wird der Sound
großer gleichnishafter Erzählungen im Stil von Hemingway oder Conrad
imitiert. Ein Nachfolger Hemingways oder Conrads ist der Autor deshalb
nicht. agardenchair 3. Juli 2007
Insgesamt: 5
Insgesamt: 5

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Diskussionsbeiträgen
Ersteintrag: 16. November 2008 00:10 CET
Edith Juratschski meint:

Warum schreiben Leute über Dinge, von denen sie keine Ahnung haben?
Beurteilungen eines arroganten 18jährigen brauche ich nicht. Das Kind
soll erstmal begreifen, dass es was zu lernen hat. Solange soll es
schweigen. Und erst rumtönen, wenn es jemanden interessiert.

Antwort auf den Eintrag von Edith Juratschski:
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Antwort auf einen früheren Beitrag vom 15. Dezember 2008 17:11 CET
Zuletzt vom Autor geändert am 16. Dezember 2008 22:37 CET
agardenchair meint:

Edith Juratschski braucht keine Beurteilungen eines arroganten
"18jährigen". Dafür weiß sie, was arrogante Achtzehnjährige brauchen -
klare Ansagen: Als Kinder haben sie zu schweigen. Und dürfen erst
rumtönen, wenn das Rumtönen jemanden interessiert. Wie gut, dass wir
nun wissen, wie es die Erwachsenen mit arroganten Kindern zu halten
haben. Danke, Frau J..

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Veröffentlicht am 14. Januar 2009 16:20 CET
Stephan Peischl meint:
[Vom Autor gelöscht am 13. Februar 2010 22:49 CET]

Veröffentlicht am 24. Mai 2009 10:18 MEST
Malenkow meint:

Dem kann ich uneingeschränkt zustimmen. Ich habe den Roman nach der
Hälfte nur noch quer gelesen.

Antwort auf den Eintrag von Malenkow:
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http://www.amazon.de/product-reviews/0312330537/ref=dp_db_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/images/0312330537/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=52044011&s=books-intl-de

Holy Cow!: An Indian Adventure (Taschenbuch)
von Sarah Macdonald (Autor) "I have a dreadful long-term memory ..."

Kundenrezensionen
Holy Cow!: An Indian Adventure

7 Rezensionen
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Die hilfreichste positive Rezension Die hilfreichste kritische
Rezension

4 von 5 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Fantastic and funny

The author is writing about her experiences in the sub-continent in a
vey funny and humorous way. Especially for people like me, who are
living in India as a foreigner or planning a trip to India, the book
is recommendable. She is describing the every-day problems people with
a "wester culture" have to face with because of the cultural
differences between the...
Vollständige Rezension lesen ›
Veröffentlicht am 5. Juli 2004 von Amazon-Kunde

› Weitere Rezensionen anzeigen: 5 Sterne, 4 Sterne
A definite "OK" book

I just finished this book and am disappointed overall. There was too
much religion and personal soul-searching by the author. I wanted more
INDIA. Yet this book did feed my desire to go to India one day, so it
wasn't all that bad. I took some notes on festivals and villages I
would like to see, but I was expecting more after reading the other
reviews.
Veröffentlicht am 20. März 2007 von beegowhite

› Weitere Rezensionen anzeigen: 3 Sterne, 2 Sterne, 1 Sterne

Hilfreichste Bewertungen zuerst | Neueste Bewertungen zuerst

4 von 5 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Fantastic and funny, 5. Juli 2004
Von Amazon-Kunde "Amazon" (Düsseldorf) -

The author is writing about her experiences in the sub-continent in a
vey funny and humorous way. Especially for people like me, who are
living in India as a foreigner or planning a trip to India, the book
is recommendable. She is describing the every-day problems people with
a "wester culture" have to face with because of the cultural
differences between the "Wester world" and India.
I recommend the book for everyone who is planning a long-time or
travel-trip to the beautiful country of india. You can learn about the
indian culture and about "not-understandable" cultural differences in
a funny way...

Great book at all!!!

5 von 7 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Witzig, unterhaltsam und lehrreich!, 10. November 2004
Von Ein Kunde

Ich war 1999 für drei Monate in Indien und habe es geliebt und
gehasst. Sarah Macdonald ruft alle meine Erinnerungen wach und bringt
mich zum Lachen. Sie beschreibt alle Arten von Gefühlen und
Erfahrungen, die man als "western foreigner" in Indien durchlebt. Es
ist sehr empfehlenswert, auch für Leute, die eine Reise nach Indien
planen. Ich habe es sehr gern gelesen.

A definite "OK" book, 20. März 2007
Von beegowhite (Luxembourg) -

I just finished this book and am disappointed overall. There was too
much religion and personal soul-searching by the author. I wanted more
INDIA. Yet this book did feed my desire to go to India one day, so it
wasn't all that bad. I took some notes on festivals and villages I
would like to see, but I was expecting more after reading the other
reviews.

4 von 6 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
oberflächlich und mit Klischees behaftet, 1. Dezember 2006
Von Emma -

Sarah ist unglücklich zum zweiten Mal in Indien gelandet zu sein. Um
sich die Zeit zu vertreiben, begibt sie sich auf eine Art Hopping
durch die verschiedensten Glaubensrichtungen und spirituellen
Strömungen - von Amma bis zu den Sikhs. Leider schafft es die Autorin
in keiner Weise der Realität Indiens gerecht zu werden. Oberflächlich
blickt sie auf Kultur und Menschen und bedient dabei nur die typisch
westlichen Indienklischees.

Ich habe mehr Zeit in Indien verbracht als die Autorin und konnte das
Buch nur noch völlig entnervt zur Seite legen. Miss Mac Donald
interessiert sich nicht für Indien, weder für die Menschen, noch für
die Kultur und auch nicht besonders tiefgründig für die religiösen
Strömungen, die von ihr besucht wurden. Sie möchte lediglich
unterhalten (was ihr nicht sonderlich gut gelingt) und begreift das
Fremde, das ihr begegnet nicht als Chance etwas Neues zu lernen,
sondern beurteilt es mit arrogant westlichem Blick. Besonders
entnervend ist das Fazit, das die Autorin am Ende jedes Kapitels über
ihr Erlebtes zieht. Jedem, der sich wirklich mit Indien, der Kultur
und den Religionen des Landes auseinandersetzen möchte und nicht einen
pseudospirituellen "Fast Food Reisebericht" lesen möchte, kann ich nur
raten: Finger weg!

1 von 2 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
very interesting, 21. Juni 2006
Von Bücherwurm "sandrasemails" -

I've never been to India but will go there after I've finished my
studies.
The book takes you on a journey with Sarah MacDonald which is exciting
and funny and sad sometimes.

You can imagine the things she describes even if you've never been to
India. But it definitely will wake the wish in you to go there.

0 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Educating, entertaining and inspiring, 8. August 2007
Von Wombatsbooks -

"Holy Cow" was meant to be a beach read, but proved to be not only
entertaining, but also educating and inspiring:

Macdonald herself calls her second stint in India "a pilgrimage
through India's spiritualistic supermarket" and herself a "karma
chameleon". "Holy Cow" presents the diversity of India's manifold
religions, deals with their differences and similarities. Macdonald
spends several days in an ashram, attends the Kumbh Mela in Benares,
celebrates Pesach with a group of Israelis, visits a church in the
South of India, immerses herself into Bhuddism, Hinduism etc. She
meets lots of people, makes many a friend and addresses different
attitudes, styles, beliefs and traditions. But most of all she
portrays India as the fascinating land of contrasts that it is.

Reading this diary-like account is nearly like being in India: it
assaults all your senses and yet is very lovable. It is written in a
light-hearted yet sensitive manner and probably politically incorrect,
because Macondald speaks her mind;-). But that makes the read all the
more worthwhile!

Result: Not to be missed! In fact her style reminds me a bit of Bill
Bryson's books. So if you are a fan of Bill Bryson's you might like
this one as well!

0 von 1 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich:
Sehr gutes Buch über Indien, 12. Februar 2007
Von Marie Senoner "musikfan4" (Österreich) -

Das Buch fängt schon super an und steigert sich immer mehr. Es ist
wirklich empfehlenswert für alle die mehr über Indien, die Kultur und
die Menschen Indiens erfahren wollen. Manchmal muss man als Europäerin
schon den Kopf schütteln, aber so ist es Indien...
Unbedingt lesen!!!

Produktbeschreibungen

From Publishers Weekly

Australian radio correspondent Macdonald's rollicking memoir recounts
the two years she spent in India when her boyfriend, Jonathan, a TV
news correspondent, was assigned to New Delhi. Leaving behind her own
budding career, she spends her sabbatical traveling around the
country, sampling India's "spiritual smorgasbord": attending a silent
retreat for Vipassana meditation, seeking out a Sikh Ayurvedic
"miracle healer," bathing in the Ganges with Hindus, studying Buddhism
in Dharamsala, dabbling in Judaism with Israeli tourists, dipping into
Parsi practices in Mumbai, visiting an ashram in Kerala, attending a
Christian festival in Velangani and singing with Sufis. Paralleling
Macdonald's spiritual journey is her evolution as a writer; she trades
her sometimes glib remarks ("I've always thought it hilarious that
Indian people chose the most boring, domesticated, compliant and
stupidest animal on earth to adore") and 1980s song title references
(e.g., "Karma Chameleon") for a more sensitive tone and a sober
understanding that neither mocks nor romanticizes Indian culture and
the Western visitors who embrace it. The book ends on a serious note,
when September 11 shakes Macdonald's faith and Jonathan, now her
husband, is sent to cover the war in Afghanistan. Macdonald is less
compelling when writing about herself, her career and her relationship
than when she is describing spiritual centers, New Delhi nightclubs
and Bollywood cinema. Still, she brings a reporter's curiosity,
interviewing skills and eye for detail to everything she encounters,
and winningly captures "[t]he drama, the dharma, the innocent
exuberance of the festivals, the intensity of the living, the piety in
playfulness and the embrace of living day by day..--he drama, the
dharma, the innocent exuberance of the festivals, the intensity of the
living, the piety in playfulness and the embrace of living day by
day."

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier
Inc. All rights reserved. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere
Ausgabe: Taschenbuch .
From Booklist

Australian MacDonald didn't fall in love with India her first time
there, at age 21. So when her boyfriend, Jonathan, a reporter for ABC,
is sent there for work, she reluctantly follows after a year of
separation. At first, life in India is as bad as she remembered it--
overcrowded, smoggy, disturbing. A serious bout of pneumonia puts her
in an Indian hospital, but as she recovers, she begins to make friends
in India and to understand the culture. She finds herself attending
lavish Indian weddings and trying to comfort her friend Padma, whose
mother commits suicide after Padma marries without her permission.
MacDonald makes an effort to understand the many diverse religions of
the area, including taking a 10-day sojourn in a Buddhist temple and
discussing religion with Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and even a group of
visiting Israelis. With Jonathan, she takes a trip to war-torn
Kashmir, an area that is at once achingly beautiful and devastatingly
dangerous. A lively, snappy travelogue. Kristine Huntley

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --
Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Taschenbuch .

Kurzbeschreibung

“India is like Wonderland. In this other universe everyone seems mad
and everything is upside down, back to front and infuriatingly
bizarre . . .”In her twenties Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India
and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution, and
poverty. So when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she
would return to India -- and for love -- she screamed, “Never!” and
gave the country, and him, the finger.

But eleven years later, the prophecy comes true. When the love of
Macdonald’s life is posted to India, she quits her dream job to move
to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. For Macdonald this
seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love, and it almost kills her,
literally. Just settled, she falls dangerously ill with double
pneumonia, an experience that compels her to face some serious
questions about her own fragile mortality and inner spiritual void. “I
must find peace in the only place possible in India,” she concludes.
“Within.” Thus begins her journey of discovery through India in search
of the meaning of life and death. Holy Cow is Sarah Macdonald’s often
hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and
contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis,
Sikhs, Parsis, and Christians, and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis,
and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to
war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman
on a mission to save her soul, her love life -- and her sanity -- can
survive.

Synopsis

After backpacking her way around India, 21-year-old Sarah Macdonald
decided that she hated this land of chaos and contradiction with a
passion, and when an airport beggar read her palm and insisted she
would come back one day - and for love - she vowed never to return.
But twelve years later the prophecy comes true when her partner, ABC's
South Asia correspondent, is posted to New Delhi, the most polluted
city on earth. Having given up a blossoming radio career in Sydney to
follow her new boyfriend to India, it seems like the ultimate
sacrifice and it almost kills Sarah - literally. After being cursed by
a sadhu smeared in human ashes, she nearly dies from double pheumonia.
It's enough to send a rapidly balding atheist on a wild rollercoaster
ride through India's many religions in search of the meaning of life
and death. From the 'brain enema' of a meditation retreat in
Dharamsala to the biggest Hindu festival on earth on the steps of the
Ganges in Varanasi, and with the help of the Dalai Lama, a goddess of
healing hugs and a couple of Bollywood stars - among many, many others
- Sarah discovers a hell of a lot more.
Über den Autor

Sarah Macdonald is a journalist and radio broadcaster who lives in
Sydney with her husband, ABC journalist Jonathan Harley, and their
baby daughter Georgina. HOLY COW! is her first book.

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APwa 12/15 1455 Rajneesh Conspiracy

By BRIAN S. AKRE Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A lawyer for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
claims the federal government poisoned the Indian guru in 1985 as
part of a conspiracy to force him out of the United States.

Swami Prem Niren, who served as Rajneesh's chief attorney
during the rise and fall of the Rajneeshpuram commune in central
Oregon, said Monday that Rajneesh believes he was poisoned in
late 1985 while he was in an Oklahoma City jail.

Rajneesh, 56, recently has been ill, and doctors concluded his
symptoms were consistent with thallium poisoning, Niren said in a
telephone interview. However, he said tests found no trace of
the rare, poisonous element in Rajneesh.

Veet Mano, director of the Rajneesh Press Services in Los
Angeles, charged in a news release received Monday by The
Associated Press that "the United States government conspired to
murder Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh." Niren said, however, there was
no evidence of that.

"That is an unfortunate phrase," he said. "It's one of those
things. PR people say things different than lawyers do."

Rajneesh now lives in Poona, India, where his movement was
based before he moved to a remote, 64,000-acre Oregon ranch in
1981. He was deported in November 1985 after he pleaded guilty
to immigration fraud in a plea agreement with federal
prosecutors.

Rajneesh has been suffering for the past two months from
nausea, fatigue, pain in his extremities and a lack of resistence
to infection, and was near death for a while, Niren said.

An Indian health official said recently that Rajneesh had
AIDS, but his disciples say a test proved the claim was false.

Rajneesh first experienced poisoning symptoms after a meal in
a jail in Oklahoma City, leading him to believe he was poisoned,
Niren said. Niren said he does not believe jailers in Oklahoma
City were responsible for the alleged poisoning. He speculated
the CIA was involved.

"Of course, years after the event I don't expect anyone in the
government or anywhere else to come forward and say, `I'm
responsible for it,"' Niren said.

Rajneesh, who was arrested in Charlotte, N.C., in October 1985
while allegedly trying to flee the United States, was held
overnight in Oklahoma City while being taken back to Oregon to
face criminal charges.

Niren, who said he is writing a book about his experiences
with the Rajneesh movement and the commune's legal battles, said
the government never had evidence linking Rajneesh to any crimes.

Niren said he recommended Rajneesh accept the plea bargain
that led to his deportation because of concerns over the guru's
health.

"Otherwise the government persecution would continue and he
couldn't take it," he said. "They intended to persecute him until
he left or was broken."

Charles H. Turner, the U.S. attorney who led the prosecution
of Rajneesh and several of his lieutenents, dismissed Niren's
allegations today.

"It's a total and complete fiction and you have to consider
the source," Turner said. "The man has no credibility."

Turner noted that a federal judge determined that Rajneesh had
committed crimes, and the guru was represented by "three
extremely skilled lawyers," including Niren. If Niren had
recommended Rajneesh plead guilty to a crime he did not commit,
the attorney could be disbarred, Turner said.

Rajneesh also had access to any medical care he needed while
he was in jail, Turner added.

"I stood next the man in court and there wasn't anything wrong
with him at all," he said.

The commune disbanded after Rajneesh's departure and the
property remains for sale.

Rajneesh, a self-described "rich man's guru," teaches
meditation as a means to enlightenment.

Niren, also known as Philip J. Toelkes, said he traveled after
the commune broke up and has been practicing law in San
Francisco.

http://www.skepticfiles.org/cultinfo/gurupois.htm

Osho, Bhagwan Rajneesh, and the Lost Truth
by Christopher Calder

When I first met Acharya Rajneesh at his Bombay apartment in December
of 1970, he was only 39 years old. With long beard and large dark
eyes, he looked like a painting of Lao-Tse come to life. Before
meeting Rajneesh I had spent time with a number of Eastern gurus
without being satisfied with their teachings. I wanted an enlightened
guide who could bridge the gap between East and West and reveal the
true esoteric secrets, without what I considered to be the excess
baggage of Indian, Tibetan, or Japanese culture. Rajneesh was the
answer to my quest for those deeper meanings. He described for me in
vivid detail everything I wanted to know about the inner worlds and he
had the power of immense being to back up his words. At 21 years old
I was naive about life and the nature of man and assumed that
everything he said must be true.

Rajneesh spoke on a high level of intelligence and his spiritual
presence emanated from his body like a soft light that healed all
wounds. While sitting close during a small gathering of friends,
Rajneesh took me on a rapidly vertical inner journey that almost
seemed to push me out of my physical body. His vast presence lifted
everyone around him higher without the slightest effort on their
part. The days I spent at his Bombay apartment were like days spent
in heaven. He had it all and he was giving it away for free!

Rajneesh possessed the astounding powers of telepathy and astral
projection, which he used nobly to bring comfort and inspiration to
his disciples. Many phony gurus have claimed to have these mysterious
abilities, but Rajneesh had them for real. The Acharya never bragged
about his powers. Those who came near soon learned of them through
direct contact with the miraculous.

Rajneesh, aka "Osho"
at his arrest in
October 1985

One or two amazing occult adventures was all it took to turn
doubting Western skepticism into awed admiration and devotion.

One year earlier I had meet another enlightened teacher, known
to the world as Jiddu Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti could barely give a
coherent lecture and constantly scolded his audience by referring to
their "shoddy little minds." I loved his frankness and his words were
true, but his subtly cantankerous nature was not very helpful in
transferring his knowledge to others.

Listening to Krishnamurti speak was like eating a sandwich made
of bread and sand. I found the best way to enjoy his talks was to
completely ignore his words and quietly absorb his presence. Using
that technique I would become so expanded after a lecture that I could
barely talk for hours afterwards. J. Krishnamurti, while fully
enlightened and uniquely lovable, will be recorded in history as a
teacher with very poor verbal communication skills. Unlike the highly
eloquent Rajneesh, however, Krishnamurti never committed any crime,
never pretended to be more than he was, and never used other human
beings selfishly.

"Ma Anand Sheela,"
Osho's Top Deputy,
at her arrest in 1985

Life is complex and multilayered and my naive illusions about the
phenomena of perfect enlightenment faded with the years. It became
clear to me that enlightened people are as fallible as anyone. They
are expanded human beings, not perfect human beings, and they live and
breathe with many of the same faults and vulnerabilities we ordinary
humans must endure.

Skeptics ask how I can claim that Rajneesh was enlightened given his
scandals and disastrous public image. I can only say that Rajneesh's
spiritual presence was identical to that of J. Krishnamurti, who was
recognized as enlightened by every high Tibetan Lama and revered Hindu
sage of the day. I do sympathize with the skeptics, however. If I
had not known Rajneesh personally, I would never believe it myself.

Rajneesh pushed the envelope of enlightenment in both positive and
negative directions. He was the best of the best and the worst of the
worst. He was a great teacher in his early years, with innovative
meditation techniques that worked with dramatic power (see explanation
and warning about Osho's Dynamic Meditation technique near the bottom
of the page). Rajneesh lifted thousands of seekers to higher levels
of consciousness and detailed Eastern religions and meditation
techniques with luminous clarity.

When former university professor Acharya Rajneesh suddenly
changed his name to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, I was dismayed. The
famous enlightened sage Ramana Maharshi was called Bhagwan by his
disciples as a spontaneous term of endearment. Rajneesh simply
declared that everyone should start calling him Bhagwan, a title which
can mean anything from 'divine one' to God. Rajneesh became irritated
when I would politely correct his mispronunciations of English words
after his lectures, so I felt in no position to tell him that I
thought his new name was inappropriate and dishonest. That change in
name marked a turning point in Rajneesh's level of honesty and was the
first of many big lies to come.

One false move, one grand error.

Rajneesh lived in an ivory tower, rarely leaving his room unless to
give a lecture, his life experience cushioned by throngs of adoring
devotees. As most human beings who are treat as kings, Rajneesh lost
touch with the world of the common man. In his artificial and
insulated existence, Rajneesh made one fundamental error in judgment
which would destroy his teaching.
Rajneesh calculated that the majority of the earth's population
was on such a low level of consciousness that they could not
understand nor tolerate the real truths. He thus decided on a policy
of spreading seemingly useful lies to bring inspiration to his
disciples and, on occasion, to stress his students in unique
situations for their own personal growth. This was his downfall and
the prime reason he will be remembered by most historians as just
another phony guru, which he undoubtedly was not.


Originally Osho gave himself the lofty title "Sri Bhagavan Rajneesh"


Acharya, Bhagwan Shree, Osho...all the empowering names taken by
Rajneesh could not cover up the fact that he was still a human being.
He had ambitions and desires, sexual and material, just like everyone
else. All living enlightened humans have desires. All enlightened men
have had public lives that we know about and all have had private
lives that remained secret. The vast majority of enlightened men do
nothing but good for the world. Only Rajneesh, to my knowledge,
became a criminal in both the legal and ethical sense of the word.

Rajneesh never lost the ultimate existential truth of being. He
only lost the ordinary concept of truth that any normal adult can
easily understand. He rationalized his constant lying as "left-handed
Tantra," but that too was dishonest. Rajneesh lied to save face, to
avoid taking responsibility for his own mistakes, and to gain personal
power. Those lies had nothing to do with Tantra or any selfless acts
of kindness. What is real in this world is fact and Rajneesh
misrepresented fact on a daily basis. Rajneesh was no simple con-man
like so many others. Rajneesh knew everything that Buddha knew and he
was everything that Buddha was. It was his loss of respect for
ordinary truthfulness that destroyed his teaching.

Rajneesh's health collapsed in his early thirties. He suffered from
what Europeans call myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or what Americans
call Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). His classic symptoms included
the obvious fatigue, extreme sensitivity to smells and chemicals (now
called "multiple chemical sensitivity"), allergies, recurrent low
grade fevers, photophobia, and orthostatic intolerance (neurally
mediated hypotension). Rajneesh also had Type II diabetes, asthma,
and severe back pain.

Rajneesh was constantly sick and frail from the time I first met
him in 1970 until his death in 1990. He could not stand on his feet
for long periods of time without becoming lightheaded because he
suffered damage to his autonomic nervous system which controls blood
pressure. This neurally mediated hypotension (low blood pressure
while standing) causes chronic fatigue and can also lower IQ due to a
lack of sufficient blood and oxygen being pumped to the brain (brain
hypoxia). When he was most ill he would complain of becoming
lightheaded as soon as he stood up. He thought he was getting a
different cold or flu every week. In reality he suffered from a
singular chronic illness with flu like symptoms that can last for
decades.

In his last years Rajneesh used prescription drugs, mainly
Valium (diazepam), as an analgesic for his aches and pains. He took
the maximum recommended dose of 60 milligrams per day. He also
inhaled nitrous oxide (N2O) mixed with pure oxygen (O2) which helped
his asthma and brain hypoxia, but which did nothing for the quality of
his judgment. Naive about the powerful effects of Western medications
and overconfident about his own ability to fight off their potentially
negative effects, Rajneesh succumbed to addiction. His downfall and
humiliation followed swiftly.

Rajneesh was a physically ill man who became mentally corrupt.
His drug addiction was a problem of his own making, not a government
conspiracy. Rajneesh died in 1990, with heart failure listed as the
official cause of death. It is probable that the physical decline
Rajneesh experienced during his incarceration in American jails was
due to a combination of withdrawal symptoms from Valium and an
aggravation of his ME/CFS due to stress and exposure to allergens.

There was much speculation in the American media that Osho had
actually committed suicide by taking a drug overdose. As no one has
confessed to giving Osho a lethal injection, there is no hard evidence
to support the suicide theory. A compelling circumstantial case could
be made for such a scenario, however, with suicide provoked by Osho's
constant ill health and disheartenment over the loss of Vivek, his
greatest love. Vivek had taken a fatal overdose of sleeping pills in
a Bombay hotel one month before Osho's passing. Pointedly, Vivek
decided to kill herself just before Osho's final birthday
celebration. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had threatened suicide at the
Oregon commune several times, hanging his death over the heads of his
disciples as a threat unless they obeyed his wishes. On his last day
on earth, Osho's is reported to have said "Let me go. My body has
become a hell for me."

The rumor that Osho was poisoned with thallium by operatives of
the United States Government is entirely fictional and contradicted by
undeniable fact. One of the obvious symptoms of thallium poisoning is
dramatic hair loss within seven days of exposure. Osho died with a
full beard and no exceptional baldness other than ordinary male
pattern baldness at the top of his head. Many of the symptoms which
may have led Osho's doctors to suspect thallium poisoning were in fact
common symptoms of dysautonomia (damage to the autonomic nervous
system) caused by ME/CFS. Those symptoms can include ataxia
(uncoordinated movements), numbness, standing tachycardia (rapid heart
rate upon standing), paresthesia (sensations of prickling and
itching), nausea, and irritable bowel syndrome, which causes
alternating between constipation and diarrhea.

The only proven cases of poisoning related to Osho were carried
out by Rajneesh sannyasins themselves (a sannyasin is an initiated
disciple, one who takes sannyas). The victims included totally
innocent people at an Oregon restaurant, two Wasco County
Commissioners, and members of Rajneesh's own staff who were poisoned
by Ma Anand Sheela, Rajneesh's personal secretary. Sheela had the
habit of poisoning people who either knew too much or who had simply
fallen out of her favor. Sheela spent two and a half years in a
federal medium security prison for her crimes while Rajneesh pled
guilty to immigration fraud and was given a ten year suspended
sentence, fined $400,000., and deported from the United States of
America.

Rajneesh felt that teaching ethics and morality was unnecessary
because the increased consciousness of meditation would automatically
lead to good behavior. Rajneesh's own actions and the behavior of his
disciples proves that theory to be untrue. There is no direct
connection between meditation and ethics and the dangers and
limitations of teaching ethics are far outweighed by the destructive
anarchy that a lack of teaching creates. Certainly students of
meditation should at least be reminded that lying, cheating, stealing,
and killing are not acceptable behavior. But Osho taught that you
should do as you please and many of his disciples and he himself
committed many ethical crimes. This lapse of judgment was largely due
to the arrogant and downright fascist attitude that one can become so
high and mighty that one is beyond the need for something as old
fashioned as polite and sane ethical behavior.

Those unfamiliar with the Rajneesh story can read the book
Bhagwan: The God That Failed, by Hugh Milne (Shivamurti), a close
disciple of Bhagwan during his Poona and Oregon years. Originally
published by Saint Martin's Press, the book can be found through
Amazon.Com and Amazon.Com.UK. I can verify many of the facts that Mr.
Milne states about the life of Rajneesh in Bombay and Poona though I
have no first hand knowledge of the tragic events at the Oregon
commune. My contacts with people who were there lead me to believe
that most of the facts Mr. Milne presents of the Oregon era are also
highly accurate. Hugh Milne is due great credit for a well written
and entertaining book which is a sincere effort at complete honesty.
On a few occasions, however, I differ from Mr. Milne's interpretations
of what the facts he presents actually mean.

Firstly, Rajneesh did not suffer from "hypochodria," as Mr.
Milne suggested. Rajneesh had a very real neurological disease,
probably inherited, which he mistook for frequent viral infections.
Rajneesh became unusually afraid of germs only due to his very
innocent and understandable medical ignorance. I fully agree with Mr.
Milne that Rajneesh suffered from "megalomania," however, and will add
that Rajneesh had a Napoleonic, obsessive and compulsive personality.

The Void has no ambition whatsoever, a fact which current Osho
disciples keep forgetting. Rajneesh could only speak for his own
personal animal mind, which is the case for all of us. The animal
mind may want its disciples to "take over the whole world," but the
Void does not care because it is beyond any motivation. The Void is
infinity and beyond human desire, so how can that which is beyond the
human mind have human ambitions? The phenomena we called Rajneesh,
Bhagwan, and Osho was only a temporary lens of cosmic energy, not the
full cosmos itself. Personality worship is not spiritual in any way
and self-indulgent attachment to guru is no better than obsessive
clinging to money, power, and social privilege. I am sure Mr. Milne
has learned that fact very well, but many fanatic Osho disciples have
missed the point entirely.

Mr. Milne also suggests that Rajneesh used "hypnosis" to
manipulate his disciples. Rajneesh had a wonderful, melodic, and
naturally hypnotic voice which would be a great asset to any public
speaker. However, in my personal opinion, Rajneesh's power came from
the intense energy field of the universal cosmic consciousness which
he channeled like a lens. Hindus call this universal energy phenomena
the Atman. As a Westerner, I prefer more scientific terms, and
describe the Atman as a highly evolved manifestation of time-energy-
space, the TES (see The TES Hypothesis).

Enlightenment is not something you own. It is something you channel.

Whatever term you use for the phenomena of enlightenment, it is
scientifically accurate to say that no human being has any power of
their own. Even the chemical energy of our metabolism is borrowed
from the sun, which beams light to the earth, which is then converted
by plants through photosynthesis into the food we eat. You may get
your bread from the supermarket but the caloric energy it contains
originated from thermonuclear reactions deep in the center of a nearby
star. Our physical bodies run on star power. Any spiritual energy we
channel also comes from far beyond, from all sides of the universe,
from the complete TES, from beyond the oceans of galaxies and onto
infinity. No human being owns the Atman and no one can speak for the
TES.

Rajneesh, as George Gurdjieff, often used the power of the Atman
for clearly personal gain. Both men used their cosmic consciousness
to overwhelm and seduce women, which was largely a harmless affair in
my opinion. Gurdjieff was ashamed of his own behavior in this regard
and vowed many times during his life to end this practice, which was a
combination of ordinary male sexual lust backed up by the potent
advantage of oceanic spiritual power. Rajneesh went even further and
used his channeled cosmic energy to manipulate masses of people to
gain a kind of quasi-political status and to aggrandize himself far
beyond what was honest or helpful to his disciples. In Oregon he even
declared to the media that "My religion is the only religion."
Diplomacy and modesty were not his strong points.

Gurdjieff, to my knowledge, never reached the extremes of self-
indulgence of Rajneesh and even warned his disciples not to have blind
faith in him. Gurdjieff wanted his students to be free and
independent with the combined abilities of clear mental reasoning and
meditation. Rajneesh, by contrast, seemed to believe that only his
thoughts and ideas were of value because only he was "enlightened."
This was a grand error in judgment and revealed a basic flaw in his
character.

Rajneesh earned his psychic abilities honestly through many
lifetimes of intense inner work. Unfortunately, when he finally
achieved the ability to fully channel the vastness of the Atman, he
failed to apply the needed wisdom of self-restraint. His human mind
so rebelled against Asian asceticism, which he claimed to have
practiced for many lifetimes, that he failed to ensure that his
borrowed power was only used for the good of others.

"Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." Henry Kissinger

After leaving India, Rajneesh created his Oregon commune from
his own powerful mind. He made himself the ultimate dictator, his
picture placed everywhere as in an Orwellian bad dream. That
totalitarian atmosphere was just one of the many reasons I did not
stay at the Oregon commune beyond several brief visits. I was
interested in meditation, not in a big concentration camp where human
beings were treated like insects with no intelligence of their own.
Rajneesh put such a high emphasis on his disciples following orders
without question that they did just that when Ma Anand Sheela,
Rajneesh's personal secretary, gave absurd orders to commit crimes
which Rajneesh himself would have never approved of.

When you decapitate the intelligence of human beings you create
a situation that is highly dangerous and destructive to the human
spirit. You cannot save people from their egos by demanding "total
surrender." The anti-democratic technique of forcing blind obedience
did not work well for Hitler, Stalin, or for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
Germany, Russia, and the Rajneesh Oregon commune were all destroyed
because of authoritarian imperial rule. A diversity of opinion is
always healthy because it acts as an effective counterbalance to the
myopic arrogance of those who would be king. Bhagwan never understood
this truth of history and referred to democracy scornfully as "mob-
ocracy." Rajneesh was an imperial aristocrat, never a generous and
open minded democrat, and he put his contempt for the democratic
process into highly visible action in Oregon.

In an attempt to subvert local Wasco County elections, Rajneesh
had his sannyasins bus in almost 2,000 homeless people from major
American cities in an effort to unfairly rig the voting process in his
favor. Some of the new voters were mentally ill and were given drug
laced beer to keep them manageable. Credible allegations have been
made that one or more of the imported street people died due to
overdosing on the beer-drug mixture, but to my knowledge that charge
has not been conclusively proven. Rajneesh's voting fraud scheme
failed and the once again homeless were returned to the streets after
the election was over, used and then abandoned. If Rajneesh
sannyasins had only held truth above all instead of obedience to guru
above all, then no crimes would have been committed and the commune
might still be in existence today.

Rajneesh used people, spoke out of both sides of his mouth, and
betrayed the trust of his own disciples. This betrayal caused Vivek,
his longtime girlfriend and companion, to commit suicide. Rajneesh
even lied about her death, slandering his greatest love in her grave
by falsely claiming that she was chronically depressed due to some
intrinsic emotional instability. Vivek was never depressed during the
years I knew her and she was the most radiant women I have ever
known.

Vivek was a highly advanced, literally glowing student of
meditation, but her only meditation method was being with Bhagwan and
absorbing his tremendous spiritual presence. When her one method and
one true love collapsed into insanity, she took her own life out of
overwhelming grief. Rajneesh drove her to suicide because she could
not understand nor tolerate his mental decline and collapse. Rajneesh
lied about her death simply to avoid taking responsibility for his own
bizarre behavior, which was the underlying cause of Vivek's despair.

The very same Western disciple who administered nitrous oxide to
Osho has been spreading negative rumors about Vivek, claiming that she
was not a meditative person (as himself) and that she committed
suicide because of a hormonal imbalance and also because she was
depressed about reaching the age of forty. This same sannyasin denied
to me emphatically that he gave Rajneesh irresponsible levels of
nitrous oxide, but later admitted to others that he gave Rajneesh one
to two hour nitrous oxide "treatments" every day for five months.
That level of exposure is clearly dangerous drug abuse with no
legitimate medical justification.

The young Acharya Rajneesh started his life as a teacher who
condemned false gurus and he ended his life as one of the most
deceitful gurus the world has ever known. The difficult fact to
comprehend is that he was enlightened when he was an anti-guru puritan
and he was still enlightened when he was the ultimate self-indulgent
guru himself. This seemingly irreconcilable contradiction is the real
reason I write this essay. I love to go into uncharted territory
where others fear to tread.

When you combine man's natural tendency for selfishness with an
ivory tower lifestyle, you have a situation where ethical behavior can
appear to be optional. Combine the unhealthy atmosphere of self-
deification with a debilitating progressive illness that lowers IQ,
and on top of that add drug abuse, then you have a cliff that even an
enlightened man could fall from. That fall could happen only if the
enlightened man makes one wrong choice, one false move, from both the
heart and from the mind.

Bhagwan's wrong choice was to disregard truthfulness in favor of
what he thought were useful lies. Once you make that wrong turn, away
from ordinary straightforward truth, you have lost your way. No human
being can disregard fact on a regular basis without finding himself in
a sea of turmoil because by discarding fact you discard the ground
beneath your feet. Little lies grow into big lies and the now hidden
truth becomes your enemy, not your friend and ally.

Rajneesh overestimated himself and underestimated his own
disciples. The real seekers of knowledge around him could have easily
handled the truth and were already motivated without the need for
propaganda. But Rajneesh had been a high guru for such a long time,
not just in this life but in previous lives as well, that he came to
see himself in grandiose terms. He was indeed an historic figure but
he was not the perfect superman he pretended to be. No one is! His
disciples deserved honesty but he fed them fairy tales "to give them
faith."

Jiddu Krishnamurti had been more honest than Rajneesh in
repeating relentlessly that "there is no authority" due to the
intrinsic nature of the cosmos. Ardent Rajneesh disciples didn't heed
Krishnamurti's warnings and put blind faith in a man who claimed to be
all-seeing, to have all the answers, and who once in 1975 brashly
proclaimed that he had never made a single mistake in his entire
life. Clearly Rajneesh made as many mistakes as any human being.
Just as obviously, his basic existential enlightenment was no
guarantee of functional pragmatic wisdom.

While Rajneesh was a brilliant philosopher, he was a lost babe
in the woods when it came to the world of science. Worried about
worldwide overpopulation, Rajneesh pressured his disciples to undergo
medical sterilization procedures. Unfortunately, he did not consider
the demographics of population growth. The current population
expansion is largely a phenomena of poor, third world nations, not a
problem originating in the USA, Canada, and Europe, where birth rates
are actually falling. North America and Europe are only experiencing
population increases due to legal and illegal immigration from third
world nations. Having his European and North American disciples
medically sever their reproductive capabilities only added to this
imbalance and many former disciples now regret they complied without
question to his thoughtless edicts.

Rajneesh also declared that the AIDS epidemic would soon kill
three quarters of the world's population and that a major nuclear war
was just around the corner. He thought he could escape nuclear
holocaust by building underground shelters and slow the spread of AIDS
by having his disciples wash their hands with alcohol before eating
meals. His more reasoned admonition was for his disciples to always
use condoms. To enforce his sexual rules, which also involved
elaborate instructions on the use of rubber gloves during sexual
encounters, Rajneesh encouraged his sannyasins to spy on each other,
reporting the names of those who failed to conform to his orders.

"When it comes to gurus, take the best and leave the rest." Ramamurti
Mishra

The disaster of Rajneesh appointing himself the singular great
brain of the universe was compounded by his lack of real world
reasoning skills, and this was the case even before he started taking
large amounts of Valium. Rajneesh could weave magnificent
philosophical dreams and addict his disciples to imagined worlds of
spiritual adventure, but those dreams did not have to stand any
empirical test of truth. In the world of science you have to prove
what you say is true through testing. In the world of philosophy and
religion you can say anything you desire and throw caution to the
wind. If your words sound good to the masses they will sell, whether
they are fact or fiction.

Rajneesh had no understanding of, or appreciation for, the
scientific method. If he thought something was true, in his own mind,
that made it true. His disciples had to obey his words or be banished
from the mini-nation he created in the Oregon desert. Rajneesh ruled
his empire as a warlord with his own private army and puppet
government. His visions and ideas, faulty or not, were taken without
question as the word of God. His disciples were judged by their
ability to surrender to his will and any opposing views were branded
as negativity and an unspiritual lack of faith.

Rajneesh's poor reasoning became even more apparent during and
after the Oregon commune scandal. After being jailed and then
deported from the USA, Rajneesh angrily declared Americans "subhuman,"
ignoring the fact that it was he, an Indian, who pled guilty to felony
immigration fraud and that it was Sheela, an Indian, who ordered the
most serious crimes which brought his empire to ruin. Even in his
fifties Rajneesh was still lying to get his own way, still demanding
to always be the center of attention, and by 1988, suffering from drug
and illness induced dementia, was pouting that his box of toys, his
expensive car collection and jewel encrusted watches, had been taken
away.

Rajneesh's disciples thought they were following a reliable and
authoritative "enlightened master." In reality they had been mislead
by a highly fallible enlightened human animal who was still a little
boy at heart. Rajneesh had not only misrepresented himself
personally, but he misrepresented the phenomena of enlightenment
itself. The idealized fantasy of perfect enlightenment does not exist
anywhere in the real world and it has never existed. The universe is
far too big and complex for anyone to be its master. We are all
subjects, not "masters," and those who pretend to be infallible and
all-knowing end up looking even more the fool in the end.

The famous sages of old seem perfect to us now only because they
have become larger than life myths. The long passage of time has
allowed their followers to effectively cover up their guru's flaws,
just as Rajneesh disciples are currently rewriting and censoring
history to cover up Rajneesh's great failings. Rajneesh was never
more infallible than any other human being. What we call
enlightenment is not a cure-all for faults and frailties that cling to
human animals even after they achieve maximum possible consciousness,
which is perhaps a more realistic definition of the term
"enlightenment."

The ultimate existential truth is silent and beyond all words.
Rajneesh embodied that truth up to the day he died. Visitors to his
ashram in Poona, India, who are open to meditation, will feel a giant
wave of consciousness there. That wave use to be connected to a human
body we called Rajneesh. The body has been turned to ashes but the
wave can still be felt. In the same way J. Krishnamurti's presence
can still be felt at Arya Vihara, his former home in Ojai,
California.

"What you tell them is true, but what I tell them (the useful lies) is
good for them." Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh 1975

The contradiction of corruption and enlightenment can occur
because the brain is never enlightened and enlightenment never says or
does anything. In a way no one ever really becomes enlightened.
Enlightenment happens at the place where you are standing but you
cannot own it or possess it. All the words of so-called enlightened
men come from the human mind and body which interprets the phenomena
of enlightenment like a translator. The words do not come froM the
enlightenment itself. By definition enlightenment cannot speak. It
is absolutely silent and beyond any need to speak.

There are many layers to our beings. Some traditions have
categorized those layers as seven bodies, the first being the physical
body and the seventh the nirvanic, the void from which all is born.
No matter how you count the layers they do exist and the purely mental
layer is always there if you have a physical body. That layer can be
affected by disease and chemical exposure.

Osho died addicted to Valium and he experienced all the negative
symptoms of drug addiction, which included slurred speech, paranoia,
poor judgment, and lowered intelligence. At one point his paranoia
and confusion were so great that he thought a group of German cultists
had cast an evil spell on him. His physical disabilities and drug
abuse were simply more than his mortal brain could take. His biggest
flaw, his disregard for the ordinary concept of truth, was his
ultimate downfall and for that crime he must be held fully responsible
with no excuses.

"Never give a sucker an even break." W.C. Fields

Bhagwan lied when he said he had enlightened disciples. He lied
when he said he never made a mistake. Later he was forced to admit he
was fallible as his list of bungles grew to monstrous proportions. He
lied by pretending that the therapy groups run by his disciples were
not mainly a money making device. Rajneesh broke immigration laws and
lied about it in court. He lied by saying that he was adopted in a
phony scheme to get permanent residence status. Bhagwan Rajneesh was
no murderer or bank robber, but he certainly was a very big liar. The
ridiculous thing is that all of his lies were totally unnecessary and
counterproductive. Honesty really is the best policy.

Sadly, Rajneesh lied when he claimed he was not responsible for
the horrors of the Oregon commune because he hand picked Ma Anand
Sheela and the people who committed the major crimes of conspiracy to
commit murder, poisoning, first-degree assault, burglary, arson, and
wiretapping. The fact that Rajneesh did not order or have pre-
knowledge of the most serious crimes does not mean he was not
ethically responsible for them. If a teacher puts a drunken sailor in
charge of driving a school bus and the children end up dead, then the
teacher is responsible for their deaths. Rajneesh knew what kind of
person Sheela was and he chose her because of her corruption and
arrogance, not in spite of it. In a cowardly attempt to evade his own
failings he changed his name from Bhagwan to Osho, as if a change in
name could wash away his sins.

Some may be horrified that an enlightened soul could become a
convicted felon, but that has not stopped me from seeking the ultimate
existential truth. Rajneesh's life is a lesson for us all to practice
what we preach. Bhagwan gave great advice but he could not heed his
own wise words. He is also a reminder not to take what people say
very seriously. It is better to observe how people live and put less
emphasis on what they speak. Talk is cheap. Actions are more costly
and telling.

Do enlightened men have egos? In my younger idealistic years I
would have said the answer is no. Rajneesh, Gurdjieff, and even J.
Krishnamurti prove to me that they do (see links near the bottom of
the page). I became convinced that Rajneesh had an ego when I saw him
on television in chains being transported from jail to an Oregon
courthouse. In response to a reporter's question he looked into the
television camera and spoke to his disciples saying "Don't worry.
I'll be back." It was not what he said but the look in his eyes that
was positive proof for me. I could see his ego in action, calculating
and manipulating. Once you see something that clearly no
rationalizations can cover up the basic truth. Rajneesh was
magnificently enlightened but he was also profoundly egotistical.

For ordinary humans the ego is the center of awareness and the
Void is perceived only at the periphery. People look at a picture
taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and they see the Void as an
outside object, not as a personal identity. When you become
enlightened, either temporarily in a satori or permanently as a
Buddha, the situation is reversed. Now the Void is your center of
awareness and the ego is at the periphery. Ego does not die, it just
no longer takes the center stage of our attention.

Enlightenment is a functional and desirable disassociation of
identity which is rooted in subtle body development and in physical
brain function. The human brain is a biologically created thinking
machine that has evolved for both personal self-preservation and the
survival of the human species. The ego, which is a selfish motivating
force, is needed to protect our colony of living cells, the physical
body, from danger and to keep our cells replenished with food and
water. If you did not have an ego you would not be able to think,
speak, or find food, shelter, and clothing. The ego function is so
vital for survival that the human brain evolved with two potential ego
mechanisms, one a centralized ego and the second a larger and more
diffuse backup system utilizing less central portions of the brain.

If the body and brain becomes physically ill with high fever and
the centralized ego center is damaged, the backup ego mechanism may
temporarily take over its function. This is ego displacement without
enlightenment. The backup self-maintenance system keeps sleep walkers
out of danger and helps enlightened human animals find food and the
basics of life so they do not physically die as a result of their own
deep meditation.

Enlightened humans do not feel their more diffuse ego and thus
they feel as free as space (the Void) itself. In actuality ego is
still present and working, just as our autonomic nervous system keeps
on working whether we are aware of its function or not. You do not
have to consciously tell your heart to beat 70 times a minute because
it will keep on beating regardless of your awareness. The brain
function that controls heart rate is automatic (autonomic) and does
not need our consciousness to make it work.

Nature has also provided human animals with a strong, virtually
unstoppable sex drive to ensure reproduction of the species. Because
of the overwhelming importance and power of sex, most gurus,
enlightened or not, have maintained active sex lives which are often
kept secret for purely political reasons. In his early years Rajneesh
lied about his strong sexuality, but to be fair this has to be
understood in the context of a rigidly anti-sexual, and highly
hypocritical, Indian social structure. Later on, after his position as
a guru had become solidified, Rajneesh publicly bragged about having
sex "with hundreds of women."

Rajneesh's sex life was of no interest to me and I do not find
any fault with him for having the same sexual desires that all men
have. I do find fault when he was dishonest and cruel for selfish
reasons. While living in Bombay, Rajneesh made one young woman
pregnant through an aggressive and unasked for seduction. The young
woman was highly upset and forced by circumstance to have an
abortion. Rajneesh, protecting his image as a great guru, lied about
his involvement and claimed that she had imagined the whole affair.
In her anger, the young woman told the American Embassy her story.
That incident marked the beginning of Rajneesh's troubles with the
United States Government. Most of Rajneesh's close disciples believed
the young woman, not the much older "enlightened" man. Similarly,
decades later many would believe a young White House intern, not a
much older Presiden Bill Clinton. Being President, or being
"enlightened," does not always ensure good behavior.

All human beings are animals, specifically mammals. It has been
proven that human DNA is at least 98% the same as chimpanzee DNA.
World history, Asian mythology, politics, and the world of alpha male
gurus makes allot more sense if you keep that unavoidable scientific
fact in mind. Our most primal subconscious motivating forces come
from the animal world, which we are still a part of.

Some enlightened human animals have become fooled by the
phenomena of ego displacement and thought they no longer had any
personal selfishness that could cause trouble. Meher Baba spent much
of his life bragging about how great he was yet at his center he felt
perfectly egoless. In truth he was very egoistic and should have
realized that even enlightenment is no excuse for bragging. The same
fundamental misjudgment plagued Acharya Rajneesh. He became fooled
into thinking that he was above arrogance but that was simply not the
case.

Even enlightened humans have to mind their manners and realize
that the Atman is the wondrous phenomena they should promote, not
their own fallible and temporary personalities. Ramana Maharshi had
the right approach in this regard and that is one reason he is still
beloved by all. Ramana Maharshi promoted the Atman, the universal
cosmic consciousness, but never his own mortal body and mind.

Everyone who experienced Acharya Rajneesh's oceanic energy still
loves him, myself included. It is only because I value the truth
above all that I write what I believe are needed criticisms. If we
cannot honestly analyze our mistakes then our suffering was a waste of
time. The ongoing cover-up of Bhagwan's frailties by his
establishment disciples will only destroy the possibility of learning
from his tragedy.

I miss Acharya Rajneesh, never Osho, because he was at his
finest when he had no manipulating political organization surrounding
him. When Acharya Rajneesh was just a man in an apartment with one
old Chevrolet, not dozens of Rolls Royces, he was more honest and
true. When he became his own political establishment things started
to go wrong and that is often the case with men of great power.

How can the ocean go into the drop if the drop has an ego in
it? My answer, as previously stated, is that the ego is an integral
part of the structure of the human brain. It is not simply
psychological but also neurological and hard wired into our neural
pathways (see neurological basis for a sense of 'self'). The self-
survival, self-defense mechanism we call 'ego' cannot be destroyed
unless the body dies.

Huston Smith, the well known author and professor of world
religions, believes that no man attached to this mortal coil can
achieve the ultimate transcendence. You first have to physically die
and when the last coil is broken you are totally free. I believe the
ego steps aside and becomes less of a problem for most enlightened
men, but it is never totally destroyed as long as you have a physical
body.

The Rajneesh scandal exposed the unconscious slavery of Bhakti
Yoga and the underlying fraudulence and corruption of "left-handed
Tantra." What is needed is an honest path, built on self-observation,
self-reliance, and respect for truth. The days of the know-it-all
guru are over. It is time to realize the source of all things
directly.

It would be wonderful to believe that enlightened men were
perfect in every way. That would make life simpler and sweeter, but
it would be fiction, not fact. In a way Bhagwan's tragedy has given
me more hope. If we have to become perfect human beings to become
enlightened then who among us will ever reach that goal? If we
realize that enlightenment is just a gradual progression of expansion
of consciousness then the goal is attainable by all of us, given
enough time. If we work for hundreds of years, through many births
and deaths, with a simple goal of just going a little deeper every
day, then with scientific certainty I believe those who seek
enlightenment will attain it in time. All of the enlightened men I
have known or have read about have made that statement in their own
words. I believe that is a fact that can be trusted.

Addendum - On letters I have received

Any thoughtful person can imagine the range of leters I have
received as a result of posting my Web essay on Acharya - Bhagwan -
Osho - Rajneesh. To date about half of the letters have been from
former Rajneesh disciples who generally agree with my comments and who
thank me for putting them on the Web. Those who agree tell me they
see "compassion for all involved" on my Web page and that I got it
"just about right."

The other letters I receive are from current disciples of the
now deceased Osho, many whom have never actually met the man in
person. Those letters range from death threats from several German
disciples to poorly written and often unsigned insults. The Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance also gets lots of hate mail, but
from many different cults, not just from one. It is interesting to
see how most cults are alike in this regard. The us vs. them
mentality takes over and anyone who does not tow the party line of the
cult is deemed a villain.

Meditation has nothing to do with cults, organizations,
politics, or business, but for many meditation is a secondary issue.
For them it is all about hero worship and blind obedience to the
memory of a now dead guru, which is a silly waste of time in my
opinion. Why not go directly to the source of all gurus and religions
through your own meditation? There is an old Zen saying that "One
should not become attached to anything that can be lost in a
shipwreck." Certainly this admonition applies to gurus as well.

Several Rajneesh sannyasins have written me claiming to be
enlightened and I hear reports that many Rajneesh disciples now make
that claim. One man said that he was "the new Osho" and invited me to
visit his Web page. His page displayed a large heroic picture of
himself, much self-promotion, and an advertisement for prostitutes in
Russia who he claimed were practicing "Tantra." So for him
"enlightenment" and being "the new Osho" literally means to be a
pimp.

Another man, who had never met Osho in person, seemed to claim
that reading Osho's books helped him get over his "mental illness" and
now he was "enlightened" himself. He then forcefully instructed me to
rewrite my Web page to make it "less judgmental" and suggested that
Osho's hypocrisy was just a means to convey his enlightenment to
others. Well, he certainly conveyed his hypocrisy to others! One
young woman, who grew up on the Rajneesh Oregon commune, asked me how
she could make money out of teaching Osho's meditation techniques. I
replied that she should go to an employment agency and get an honest
job. Meditation and business do not mix and there are too many money
hungry gurus out there already.

It shocks me to find that many Osho disciples do not care about
the crimes that were committed and are not bothered by the lies and
hypocrisy of their own movement. They don't seem to comprehend that
as a result of the germ warfare attack committed by Rajneesh
sannyasins on a restaurant in Oregon that meditation groups have
gotten a very bad name around the world.

The unrelated but equally infamous Aum Shinrikyo (a Japanese
cult) nerve gas attack on a subway station in Tokyo worsened this
situation considerably. The attitude of many Osho sannyasins seems to
be that as long as they get their psychic kicks out of a cult that it
does not matter who was hurt or how unethical and disgraceful the
behavior was. In their minds everyone else in the world was
responsible for the Oregon debacle except them. As a result of this
careless attitude many Americans now feel that if a meditation group
starts an ashram nearby it is time to buy a gun and a gas mask.

The amount of historical revisionism and propaganda put out by
some Rajneesh disciples rivals the efforts of Maoists during the 1960s
and their state of mind is similar. If you want to believe in one
perfect man, a Pope of the universe, then anyone who criticizes that
Pope is deemed a devil. Thus all the subtleties of my essay are lost
on these disciples and all they claim to see on my Web page is "hate
and anger." Of course they do not see the hate in themselves directed
at anyone who does not share their own narrow beliefs.

One long time disciple of Rajneesh expressed to me how angry she
was at the Dalai Lama for only visiting the Rajneesh ashram in Poona
once. So for her the Dalai Lama is now a villain just because he did
not want to go back for a second visit. The level of intolerance and
narrow mindedness in the Rajneesh cult is mind boggling to me and I
cannot understand how so many seemingly intelligent people can live in
such a small mental space, barricaded against all those who do not
believe exactly as they do.

The last time I visited the Rajneesh ashram in Poona, India, was
in 1988. It was literally like a loud convention of German Brown
Shirts by that point. Osho was still very popular in Germany, due in
part to his comments in the German magazine Stern which were widely
interpreted to be pro-Hitler. I myself do not believe Osho was a
serious supporter of Adolf Hitler. It seemed to me that he was just
playing with people's minds, but he made his position ambiguous
enough, with enough expressed sympathy for the Axis cause, that many
young Germans were thrilled by his words. Those who lost loved ones
during World War II were justifiably shocked.

At one point Rajneesh stated that "I have fallen in love with
this man (Adolf Hitler). He was crazy, but I am crazier still." I do
not believe Rajneesh meant that statement literally. He was joking,
but he had lost the common sense to know that one does not joke about
loving a man who has killed millions of innocent people. Mel Brooks
can get away with it because he is Jewish and has relatives who were
killed by the Nazis. For a "spiritual" man who portrayed himself as
the world's smartest, highest, and greatest soul, such a remark was
proof that his drug taking was destroying the quality of his
judgment.

At the time of my visit Osho was in silence as he was angry at
his own disciples. He wanted his sannyasins to demonstrate in the
streets of Poona against some Indian officials who had spoken out
against him. Wisely, no one was interested in creating a new
confrontation. This spell of sanity among the flock irritated Osho
who canceled public talks as punishment. I was thus only able to see
him on video tape. On the taped lecture Osho was ranting emotionally,
and factually incorrectly, about how the police in the United States
had stolen his collection of jewel encrusted watches. He said that
they would never be able to wear them in public because his sannyasins
would see the watches on their wrists, at airports etc., and start
screaming out loud that "you stole Bhagwan's watch!" His words and
manner were so childishly irrational that he reminded me of Jim
Jones. This Osho was a far cry from the serene, dignified, and highly
eloquent man I had met years earlier.

Why did Osho own 90 Rolls Royces? Why does Saddam Hussein own
dozens of luxurious palaces? Those desires are products of the base
animal mind of two men who grew up in poverty. Enlightenment does not
care about symbols of power and potency. Looking for hidden esoteric
explanations for obsessive behavior is pointless. Is there an occult
reason that Elton John spends over $400,000. per month on flowers? Is
there a secret spiritual reason that Osho had a collection of dozens
of expensive ladies' watches? The universal cosmic consciousness is
completely neutral and without any need to possess, impress, or
dominate. It also cannot drive or tell time.

Shivamurti's book, Bhagwan: The God That Failed, could have
easily also been entitled The Man Who Became His Own Opposite, or The
Man Who Betrayed Himself. I often tell people that if they could go
back in time and kidnap the Acharya Rajneesh of 1970, then bring him
up through the years to meet the Osho of the late 1980s, that the two
men would be at war with each other. Acharya would have hated Osho's
pompous self-indulgence and Osho would have never tolerated the young
Acharya's brash criticisms. Acharya Rajneesh spoke of freedom and
compassion. Osho once said that he wished someone would
"shoot" (assassinate) former Soviet leader Mikael Gorbachev because he
was leading the Soviet Union to Western style capitalism instead of
his own imagined "spiritual communism." The change in his teaching
was remarkable, to say the least.

I would like to think that the early Acharya Rajneesh would have
approved of my essay, but who can say for sure. For those who suggest
I am not being loyal to Osho, I counter that I am honestly trying to
be loyal to Acharya Rajneesh, the man I took sannyas from, not Osho.
He was a man I still deeply love and respect. But that Acharya
Rajneesh died along time before Osho was even born and the two men
were as different as day and night.

My message to letter writers is to go ahead and write me. You
can vent anger or thank me, but neither will have much effect on me as
I have heard it all before, from both sides. I can only sigh and ask
myself how Acharya Rajneesh, who started out as an anti-guru
extraordinaire, ended up as he did with this current crop of
disciples. Perhaps it shows that power does corrupt and that the
means rarely justifies the ends.

In the end where is meditation in all of this? "Color
Puncture," "Tantric Tarot Readings," encounter groups, and every phony
crackpot scam in the book is being peddled by Osho disciples for large
sums of money. But what about meditation? Then I think back to the
day when the just turned 40 year old Acharya wisely instructed a
friendly Japanese woman, who was starting a new Rajneesh meditation
center in Tokyo, that "Meditation must not be made into a business."
The corrupt means have gotten so far out of hand that the original
intent of the ends, Acharya Rajneesh's original noble vision, has long
been forgotten by many, but not by me.

"No Saint comes to the world with a new teaching or philosophy; he
brings the same
ancient wisdom."

Maharaj Charan Singh, Sikh Guru
From "Divine Light," p. 144

"They [the sages] conduct themselves in the everyday life in
accordance with the time-hallowed rules of conduct..."

"He should be known as the killer of the Brahman, who is a renegade
beyond the pale of all recognized schools of thought."

The Jivan-Mukti-Viveka of Sri Vidyaranya

Translation of Pandit Subrahmanya Sastri, F.T.S., The Theosophical
Publishing House, p. 170, p. 218

"Rajneesh/Osho is the worst thing that ever happened to spirituality
in the west. He rode herd over a mob of naive, idealistic spiritual
seekers, but definitely lacked the traits of an enlightened master.

"Enlightened masters are not drug addicts. They do not turn Dharma on
its head -- like calling "sannyasins" those who adopt a path exactly
opposite of Indian sannyas. They generally don't get arrested and have
their mug shots taken, and ignomiously deported -- especially the
Indian saints. (Christ was one notable historical exception to this
rule.) A true saint, by his spiritual power, is never humiliated or
bested. He has sufficient merit to receive protection and his honored
in his lifetime.

"More to the core, an enlightened master does not encourage his
disciples to abandon time-honored moral norms -- especially the
dharma concerning sex restraint. Osho was basically a kind of pimp who
used the base desires of average people, along with their beautiful
hunger for real spirituality, to build a financial empire and a
following of worshippers who would do whatever he asked.

"When I think back about that 'baby boomer generation' of sincere
spiritual seekers -- all those intelligent, skilled young men and
women of European descent like me -- it makes me so sad. What a
harvest of potential saints that was! How much good might have arisen
if all those young, idealistic westerners could have fallen in with a
legitimate spiritual master -- say, a Vivekananda or a Ramakrishna. We
will never know! I look at them today, and their condition, and they
have missed the boat.

"Thousands of sincere western seekers were misled and harmed by the
novel teachings of Osho. I have seen many of them in the aftermath.
They always lack the satvic glow that comes from yogic sex restraint;
they look like spent rakes aged well beyond their actual years. Even
in their age -- when they might show some spiritual attainment -- many
still crave sex, and all the ordinary base things. Despite Osho's
"indulgence technique," they never got over sex addiction and lust.

"This was one of the Big Lies that Osho told: That by indulging your
sex desire you would transcend it. The great sages of Yoga spoke the
real and opposite truth: You get over sexual lust not by feeding it,
but by restraining it until you encounter the higher thrill of
meditative bliss. Meanwhile, it is only that renunciation -- the
storing of the sexual energy -- that enables one to contact the
transcendental bliss. This has been the message of the sages through
all time, including Lord Buddha, who was frequently ripped off by
"the Bhagwan." Osho's teachings, though sprinkled here and there with
mystical truths, were dead wrong in the most basic ways, and
ultimately spiritually destructive.

"The proof is in the pudding. Christ said that one can know a true
Master by the "fruit" that emerges from him. Through his disciples
Osho gave us moral and family breakdown, drug addiction, a disturbed
childhood for many, and crime -- even terrorism. Osho set Yoga back in
the west perhaps hundreds of years.

"The saddest thing is what happened to all those children of Osho
followers. Osho wanted them to grow up not knowing who their Fathers
were; raised by a mob, with no particular person as Parent. I can't
think of anything much more ignorant, or more cruel. Krishnamurti was
right:
Osho was a criminal."

-- Julian Lee
www.Celibacy.info

Osho/Rajneeshism

Concise summary and history of the Osho/Rajneesh mess

The Rise And Fall of Rajneeshpuram

Sympathetic account of the Osho mess, but with a good accounting of
their criminal activites

"It was later revealed in court testimony that Sheela’s [Rajneeshee
group] had attempted to poison two local communities by dumping
salmonella into salad bars of several local restaurants . . . This
episode has the unfortunate distinction of being the first instance of
modern bioterrorism in the U.S.

"Sheela’s group also allegedly fire-bombed a county records office in
The Dalles. One of the charges most heavily investigated was the
poisoning of Swami Deveraj (later Amrito), Bhagwan’s personal
physician. After the July 6 discourse, Ma Shanti Bhadra hugged
Deveraj and jabbed him with a needle. The syringe contained a still
unidentified poison concocted by Rajneeshpuram nurse Ma Puja. Deveraj
became gravely ill and almost died at the Madras hospital."

"My Life In Orange"

The child of an Osho disciple recounts his crazy life growing up under
the "Rajneesh." Find out how bad it was. Many letters here from other
grown Osho children, or those raised in similar situations.

http://rajneesh.info/

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
An Apologetics Index research resource

Rajneesh founded the Rajneesh Foundation International, and is one of
the most controversial of modern gurus. In 1981 he was deported from
Oregon under a bevy of serious criminal charges associated with his
ashram, or spiritual community. His recent death did little to stem
his influence in Europe or America.
John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs
Harvest House Publishers, Oregon, 1996.

[A]lso called OSHO AND ACHARYA RAJNEESH, original name CHANDRA MOHAN
JAIN, Indian spiritual leader who preached an eclectic doctrine of
Eastern mysticism, individual devotion, and sexual freedom while
amassing vast personal wealth.

In 1981 Rajneesh's cult purchased a dilapidated ranch in Oregon, U.S.,
which became the site of Rajneeshpuram, a community of several
thousand orange-robed disciples. Rajneesh was widely criticized by
outsiders for his private security force and his ostentatious display
of wealth. By 1985 many of his most trusted aides had abandoned the
movement, which was under investigation for multiple felonies
including arson, attempted murder, drug smuggling, and vote fraud in
the nearby town of Antelope. In 1985 Rajneesh pleaded guilty to
immigration fraud and was deported from the United States. He was
refused entry by 21 countries before returning to Pune, where his
ashram soon grew to 15,000 members. In later years he took the
Buddhist title Osho and altered his teaching on unrestricted sexual
activity because of his growing concern over AIDS.

Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Encyclopedia Britannica

(...) the only known successful use of biological weapons in the
United States was by the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh cult in 1984. The
group contaminated salad bars in 10 restaurants in The Dalles, Ore.,
with Salmonella Typhimurium, causing several hundred people to become
ill.

Biological and Chemical Warfare Q and A, ABC News, Sep. 24, 2001

Hinduism is not by nature a proselytizing religion, however, in part
because of its inextricable roots in the social system and the land of
India. In recent years, many new gurus, such as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
and Satya Sai Baba, have been successful in making converts in Europe
and the United States. The very success of these gurus, however, has
produced material profits that many people regard as incompatible with
the ascetic attitude appropriate to a Hindu spiritual leader; in some
cases, the profits have led to notoriety and even legal prosecution.
Hinduism Outside India Encyclopedia Britannica

Name Change

In 1988 thirty years after taking the title, ''Bhagwan,'' (which means
''the embodiment of God'') Rajneesh admitted the title and his claim
to be God were a ''joke.'' ''I hate the word... I don't want to be
called Bhagwan (God) again. Enough is enough. The joke is over,''
stated Rajneesh saying he was really the reincarnation of Buddha and
claiming for himself the new title of ''Rajneesh Gautaman the
Buddha,'' (Star Telegram, Dec. 29, 1988; Sec.1, p. 3). Later he took
the title, ''Osho Rajneesh,'' a Buddhist term meaning ''on whom the
heavens shower flowers.'' (Ibid, 1/20/90).

Guru Rajneesh Dead at 58, Watchman Expositor, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1990

Guru Rajneesh Dead at 58, Watchman Expositor, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1990

Old Bhagwan, new bottles ''A 'new' spiritual guru turns out to have a
past that includes lavish spending, orgies and bacterial terrorism.'',
Salon.com, Oct. 20, 1999

Ever wonder what ever happened to the guy whose religious followers
were linked to the only episode of domestic mass bioterrorism in
America? Well, in the case of the late, notorious Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh, old renegade sex gurus never die. He just ''left his body''
somewhere in India in 1990 and later emerged as a thriving, modern-day
publishing machine known as Osho.

Rajneesh's flock caught much of his meditative bon mots on tape, and
now incessantly recycle these ponderings as spiritual wisdom under the
author name of Osho.

Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Entry in Encyclopedia Britannica

Rajneeshpuram: Another Tragedy in the Making? Statement by the
Christian Research Institute

The Story of a Truly Contaminated Election Columbia Journalism
Review, Jan/Feb 2000

The only proven incident of bioterrorism the United States has ever
experienced, we learned, was a bizarre plot by the Rajneeshees, a
religious cult, to steal a county election in Oregon in 1984. The
Rajneeshees, followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a self-proclaimed
guru exiled from India, had moved into a ranch in rural Wasco County,
taken political control of the small nearby town of Antelope, and
changed its name to Rajneesh. Next, the cult sought to run the whole
county by winning the local election in 1984.

The amazing story of the Wasco County election scandal was revealed to
the conference's riveted participants by Leslie L. Zaitz, an
investigative reporter for The Oregonian, and Dr. John Livengood, an
epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control. To win the county
election, the Rajneeshees planned to sicken a good portion of the
population in the town of The Dalles, where most Wasco County voters
live. Their weapon of choice to keep local residents from voting was
salmonella bacteria. Cult members decided to test the use of
salmonella and, if successful, to contaminate the entire water system
of The Dalles on Election Day. First, the Rajneeshees poisoned two
visiting Wasco County commissioners on a hot day by plying them with
refreshing drinks of cold water laced with salmonella. Then, on a
shopping trip to The Dalles, cult members sprinkled salmonella on
produce in grocery stores "just for fun." According to reporter Zaitz,
that experiment didn't get the results they wanted so the Rajneeshees
proceeded to clandestinely sprinkle salmonella at the town's
restaurant salad bars. Ten restaurants were hit and more than 700
people got sick.

Wasco County Sheriffs This history includes a recounting of the
Rajneeshees involvement in this Oregon community

More Information:

Apologetics Index (apologeticsindex.org) provides 40,870+ pages of
research resources on religious cults, sects, new religious movements,
alternative religions, apologetics-, anticult-, and countercult
organizations, doctrines, religious practices and world views. These
resources reflect a variety of theological and/or sociological
perspectives.

The site provides information that helps equip Christians to logically
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in their comparison of various religious claims. Issues addressed
range from spiritual and cultic abuse to contemporary theological and/
or sociological concerns.

Apologetics Index also includes ex-cult support resources - including
a directory of cult experts (CultExperts.org), up-to-date religion and
cult news (Religon News Blog: ReligionNewsBlog.com), articles on
Christian life and ministry, and a variety of other features.

• Look, "feel" and original content are © Copyright 1996-2010+,
Apologetics Index™

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565071603/christianministr

also called Osho or Acharya Rajneesh, original name Chandra Mohan
Jain
born Dec. 11, 1931, India died Jan. 19, 1990, Pune, India

Indian spiritual leader who preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern
mysticism, individual devotion, and sexual freedom, while amassing
vast personal wealth.

As a young intellectual, Rajneesh visited with and absorbed insights
from teachers of the various religious traditions active in India. He
studied philosophy at the University of Jabalpur, earning a B.A. in
1955; he began teaching there in 1957, after earning an M.A. from the
University of Saugar. At the age of 21 he had an intense spiritual
awakening, which inspired in him the belief that individual religious
experience is the central fact of spiritual life and that such
experiences cannot be organized into any single belief system.

In 1966 Rajneesh resigned from his university post and became a guru
(spiritual guide) and a teacher of meditation. In the early 1970s he
initiated people into the order of sannyasis, who traditionally
renounced the world and practiced asceticism. Reinterpreting the idea
of being a sannyasi in terms of detachment rather than asceticism,
Rajneesh taught his disciples to live fully in the world without being
attached to it.

The first Westerners came to Rajneesh in the early 1970s, and in 1974
the new headquarters of his movement was established in Pune. The
basic practice taught at the centre was called dynamic meditation, a
process designed to allow people to experience the divine. The centre
also developed a diversified program of New Age healing adopted from
the West. Rajneesh became well-known for his progressive approach to
sexuality, which contrasted with the renunciation of sex advocated by
many other Indian teachers.

Rajneesh moved to the United States in 1981 and, the following year,
incorporated Rajneeshpuram, a new city he planned to build on an
abandoned ranch near Antelope, Ore. During the next few years many of
his most trusted aides abandoned the movement, which came under
investigation for multiple felonies, including arson, attempted
murder, drug smuggling, and vote fraud in Antelope. In 1985 Rajneesh
pleaded guilty to immigration fraud and was deported from the United
States. He was refused entry to 21 countries before returning to Pune,
where his ashram soon grew to 15,000 members.

In 1989 Rajneesh adopted the Buddhist name Osho. After his death his
disciples, convinced that he had been the victim of government
intrigue, voiced their belief in his innocence and vowed to continue
the movement he started. In the early 21st century it had some 750
centres located in more than 60 countries.

John Gordon Melton

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/490155/Bhagwan-Shree-Rajneesh

Vol. 7, No. 2, 1990
Articles on the New Age

Guru Rajneesh Dead at 58

Controversial Indian Guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, "who turned a
central Oregon town into a tumultuous commune of free love, hedonism
and murder plots before being deported," died on Jan. 19th of heart
failure in Poona, India. (Ft. Worth Star Telegram, 1/20/90).

Rajneesh captured the nation's attention in 1981 when he moved his
ashram community and 93 Rolls-Royces to Antelope, Oregon and advocated
"enlightenment" through sexual promiscuity. Oregonians were concerned
when Rajneesh's followers, who outnumbered the permanent residents of
Antelope, took over the small town changing its name to "City of
Rajneesh." Critics charged that the Guru later tried to take over the
county by bussing in street people gathered from the nation's inner
cities to out-vote the regular citizens.

Ma Anand Sheela, the Rajneesh's personal secretary, later pled guilty
to a number of charges including, "plotting to kill Mr. Rajneesh's
physician with a poison-filled syringe and orchestrating a food
poisoning outbreak that sickened more than 750 people in The Dalles,
the county seat, as part of a plot to take control of the
county," (Ibid).

The Bhagwan was also arrested and deported on charges of immigration
fraud as part of a plea bargain arrangement with U.S. officials. He
returned to his native India after unsuccessfully attempting to
immigrate to several other countries.

Rajneesh's teachings included, "sex is fun, materialism is good and
Jesus was a madman," and the claim that he was "the world's greatest
lover." His "Bible" called, The Orange Book described a typical yoga
session, "Explode! Go totally mad.... Jump up and down shouting the
mantra `Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!' ...Each time you land on the flats of your
feet, let the sound hammer deep into the sex center," (Ibid).

In 1988 thirty years after taking the title, "Bhagwan," (which means
"the embodiment of God") Rajneesh admitted the title and his claim to
be God were a "joke." "I hate the word... I don't want to be called
Bhagwan (God) again. Enough is enough. The joke is over," stated
Rajneesh saying he was really the reincarnation of Buddha and claiming
for himself the new title of "Rajneesh Gautaman the Buddha," (Star
Telegram, Dec. 29, 1988; Sec.1, p. 3). Later he took the title, "Osho
Rajneesh," a Buddhist term meaning "on whom the heavens shower
flowers." (Ibid, 1/20/90).

Thousands of the Guru's followers welcomed his death as "a liberation
of the soul" and celebrations began in the Poona, India compound as
soon as his death was announced.

http://www.watchman.org/na/rajneesh.htm

WEDnesday, Oct 20, 1999 09:00 EDT
Old Bhagwan, new bottles

A "new" spiritual guru turns out to have a past that includes lavish
spending, orgies and bacterial terrorism.
By Dennis McCafferty

Ever wonder what ever happened to the guy whose religious followers
were linked to the only episode of domestic mass bioterrorism in
America? Well, in the case of the late, notorious Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh, old renegade sex gurus never die. He just "left his body"
somewhere in India in 1990 and later emerged as a thriving, modern-day
publishing machine known as Osho.

Rajneesh's flock caught much of his meditative bon mots on tape, and
now incessantly recycle these ponderings as spiritual wisdom under the
author name of Osho. This Osho has now generated an impressively
diversified empire of books, video tapes, television shows, corporate
seminars (via Osho "trainees") and even a 34-acre luxury spa in Pune,
India. With more than a dozen titles published and still going strong,
his worldwide book and audio book sales now surpass $1 million
annually. Due out in mid-November from the ever-prolific (albeit,
technically dead) Osho: Three new titles from St. Martin's Griffin --
"Creativity," "Courage" and "Maturity," all priced at $11.95 -- to
mark the 10th anniversary of his death in January. And in May 2000, a
new "autobiography" with the working title "Osho: The Autobiography of
the Spiritually Incorrect Mystic."

To date, the published works of Osho have left readers with little
clues as to his former identity. So consumers may not know that
they're actually plunking down their cash for rehashed ramblings from
the late Rajneesh, the controversy-plagued spiritual leader kicked out
of the United States after his legal woes heated up in the mid-1980s.
Rajneesh made headlines with a lifestyle that included a convoy of
more than 90 Rolls-Royces, flashy jewelry and enough hedonistic
pursuits to earn him the title "world's most famous sex guru."

Rajneesh and his followers settled on a 65,000-acre ranch near
Antelope, Ore., wrestled political control from town office holders
and renamed Antelope "Rajneeshpuram." But they were essentially the
sect that couldn't shoot straight. During a conflict with Oregon
authorities, the followers were accused of arson and attempted murder.
In perhaps the most notorious incident, some members of the Rajneesh
crew were linked to a 1984 case in which salmonella bacteria was
sprinkled on the contents of local restaurant salad bars and sickened
750 people. Rajneesh was deported on immigration fraud charges and
died in Pune on Jan. 19, 1990.

However, Rajneesh lives on with an estimated 5,000 of his lectures now
marketed as Osho tapes and books. He'll answer e-mail questions on the
Web and make the occasional remark on current affairs. (Live! From the
Osho Commune International home base in Pune: "Clinton needs Tantra
Sutra, not Kama Sutra.")

The books are less than enlightening about Osho's time spent here on
Earth; their references to Rajneesh are rare and fuzzy. In the
current, uncorrected proofs of the three new St. Martin's titles, for
example, the brief "About the Author" section makes no mention at all
of Osho's prior identity.

Says Klaus Steeg, president of Osho International in New York: "He
changed his name. He was called Bhagwan. But the year before he died,
he dropped that. It's a complete deconstruction of his personality."
And perhaps more importantly, of all the bad P.R. that his former name
brings to mind.

Steeg promises that, while the "autobiography" will tie up some of
these loose connections, the wealth of Osho's heavily marketed inner-
self discourses do not because they're intended as guides. Michael
Denneny, the St. Martin's senior editor currently overseeing Osho
titles, says the publishing company, as is its policy, provides a
picture of Rajneesh in the books. Still, the photos identify him only
as Osho. "If he changed his name to Osho," Denneny reasons, "then it's
like Muhammad Ali and Cassius Clay." As far as how forthcoming the
autobiography will be, that remains to be seen. Osho "distinguishes
between what is true and what is fact," Denneny says. "He prefers the
truth." Jim Fitzgerald, who edited a 1998 St. Martin's-published work
from Osho called "The Book of Secrets," is more blunt: "I'd be
shooting myself in the foot to say that's the guy [whose people]
poisoned salad bars.''

Well, forgive and, most of all, forget, right? At least a few media
types have short memories. Last year, the New York Times featured a
puff piece on Osho International's Lexington Avenue office digs,
describing Osho as a now-deceased Indian mystic and making no
reference to Rajneesh. A 1998 travel piece in Yoga Journal describing
the Pune attraction as a "New Age Xanadu" did connect Osho to the
Rajneesh name, but blithely omitted mention of the salad bars or other
unsavory details.

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/1999/10/20/osho/

The Story of a Truly Contaminated Election
BY LAWRENCE K. GROSSMAN

On November 30, when Vice President Gore's vote challenge was making
Florida the epicenter of the universe, I happened to be in St.
Petersburg, Florida, moderating a conference on "Bioterrorism and the
Media." Terrible as the subject of the bioterrorism conference is, it
promised at least to offer a welcome respite from the endless but
irresistible election mess. As it turned out, I was wrong. The
centerpiece of the conference was, of all things, the case study of a
truly contaminated election.

The only proven incident of bioterrorism the United States has ever
experienced, we learned, was a bizarre plot by the Rajneeshees, a
religious cult, to steal a county election in Oregon in 1984. The
Rajneeshees, followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a self-proclaimed
guru exiled from India, had moved into a ranch in rural Wasco County,
taken political control of the small nearby town of Antelope, and
changed its name to Rajneesh. Next, the cult sought to run the whole
county by winning the local election in 1984.

The amazing story of the Wasco County election scandal was revealed to
the conference's riveted participants by Leslie L. Zaitz, an
investigative reporter for The Oregonian, and Dr. John Livengood, an
epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control. To win the county
election, the Rajneeshees planned to sicken a good portion of the
population in the town of The Dalles, where most Wasco County voters
live. Their weapon of choice to keep local residents from voting was
salmonella bacteria. Cult members decided to test the use of
salmonella and, if successful, to contaminate the entire water system
of The Dalles on Election Day. First, the Rajneeshees poisoned two
visiting Wasco County commissioners on a hot day by plying them with
refreshing drinks of cold water laced with salmonella. Then, on a
shopping trip to The Dalles, cult members sprinkled salmonella on
produce in grocery stores "just for fun." According to reporter Zaitz,
that experiment didn't get the results they wanted so the Rajneeshees
proceeded to clandestinely sprinkle salmonella at the town's
restaurant salad bars. Ten restaurants were hit and more than 700
people got sick.

"They apparently didn't expect it to be such a huge success," Zaitz
said. "The attention attracted by the salad bar escapade brought
hordes of health officials and investigators into The Dalles. It
dashed the cult's plan to do worse on Election Day." Health officials
soon pinned down salmonella as the cause of the sudden outbreak, but
put the blame on food handlers. In 1984, who could have imagined
bioterrorism?

The Rajneeshees also bused in homeless people by the hundreds from all
across the country to register in Wasco County so they could vote in
the '84 election. That plan failed when, alerted by the mass
registration of the homeless, the state threatened to conduct
administrative hearings on every new local voter. The cult's
conspiracy to contaminate the election failed and a year later, the
entire Rajneeshee commune collapsed under the weight of an internal
conflict. Cult informers confessed to numerous crimes, including plots
to kill the U.S. attorney, the state attorney general, and the guru's
doctor, as well as the plot to contaminate the election. Vials of
salmonella were found on the Rajneeshees' ranch.

Zaitz and his investigative reporting team produced a twenty-part
series on the Rajneeshees for The Oregonian starting in June 1985.
After the commune collapsed they went back and produced a follow-up
series. Among other things, they learned that the Rajneeshees had
secretly put together a top-ten hit list on which Zaitz's name
appeared as number three.

"If anything, the local news media were restrained and conservative in
their coverage of the salmonella episode," Zaitz told the conference.
"There was nothing alarmist, nothing to trigger a public panic. More
aggressive coverage perhaps would have heated up already tense
community relations with the commune. Yet the benign treatment also
gave the Rajneeshees comfort that they could get away with it . . . .
Fortunately, the commune collapsed before that could happen. But
consider this: If they knew reporters were watching closely, would
they have even tried?"

Something like that might be said of the presidential balloting mess.
If, in the days before the voting, reporters had focused on the
botched job the nation's election districts were doing with voting
procedures for the central political event of our democracy, the
election of a president, would the balloting and ballot-counting have
been quite so off-base?

For epidemiologist Livengood, however, who had been dispatched to
Wasco County to solve the cause of the mysterious outbreak, the story
had a different, simpler moral: "Don't eat at salad bars."

Lawrence K. Grossman, a former president of NBC News and PBS, is a
regular columnist for CJR.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020614093959/http://www.cjr.org/year/01/1/grossman.asp

Ernest D. Mosier followed Harold Sexton and was Sheriff of Wasco
County two different times. He first served from 1953 to September,
1963, when he resigned. He came back to spend six more years as
Sheriff from July 1971 to 1977 when he was appointed to replace the
resigning William L. Bell.

A native of The Dalles, Mosier graduated from The Dalles High School
and later attended Willamette University. Before joining the Sheriffs'
Office, Mosier was an office manager at a number of companies in The
Dalles area.

Sterling Arthur Trent was appointed to take Mosier's place when he
resigned. A native of Gorin, Missouri, Trent served as Sheriff of
Wasco County until June 1968, when he died in office. He moved to
Oregon in 1913 and was a Deputy Sheriff from July 1954 until he was
appointed Sheriff in September 1963.

A graduate of The Dalles High School, Trent worked in the construction
business for a time and also managed a tire shop and was a stock
rancher for a while. When Trent died, Grant Cyphers was appointed to
take his place, but Cyphers served only a month before it was dis-
covered he was of the wrong political party.

William L. Bell was appointed to take Cyphers' place and remained
Sheriff of Wasco County until July 1971, when he resigned to take a
job with the Board on Police Standards and Training. A native of Long
Beach, California, Bell moved to Oregon in 1947.

Bell graduated from Wheeler County High School in Fossil and attended
five terms at the University of Oregon and two terms at Oregon College
of Education. He signed on with The Dalles Police Department in 1957
as an officer but left for two years to serve in the United States
Army from 1958 to 1960. He remained with The Dalles Police Department
until 1968, when he was appointed to take the place of Cyphers.

Ernest Mosier came back to serve as Sheriff when he was appointed to
take Bell's place, remaining this time until 1977, when John B. Magill
was elected. Magill-- whose family was an old ranching family in Wasco
County -- served a four-year term before Robert G. "Bob" Brown was
elected in 1981.

Born in Council Bluff, Iowa, Brown moved to Oregon in 1963 from South
Dakota. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in Omaha in 1962
with degrees in business administration and engineering. He worked for
seven years as a superintendent and engineer for Peter Kiewet & Sons
in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Washington and
Oregon. From 1967 until 1980, Brown worked for Tenneson Engineering in
The Dalles.

Art Labrousse won the 1984 election and was re-elected in 1988 to
become the first two-term Sheriff in Wasco County since 1968.

Big Muddy-ed Affair

In 1981, Wasco County school children learned a new word:
Rajneeshees. Even before the start of the school year, a few lessons
on this strange East Indian word and what it meant. Followers of the
nomadic Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh purchased the rambling,
64,229 acre Big Muddy Ranch in Wasco and Jefferson counties in July of
1981 as the central commune for the Bhagwan and his devoted
followers.

At first, the residents of nearby Antelope viewed the sudden
appearance of the red-clad Rajneesh disciples, known as Sannyasins but
more commonly referred to as Rashneeshees, as nothing more than a
curiosity. It wasn't long, however, before they realized the
seriousness and full intentions of the Rajneesh movement, or
"invasion,'' as some locals preferred to call it.

While the Bhagwan's chief aide Ma Anand Sheela was declaring the
movement's plan to operate a simple farming commune in the desert, his
other disciples were busy in the background developing grand plans for
a huge resort city for up to 100,000 Rajneeshees.

Within a matter of weeks, construction began on a number of buildings
within the newly-christened Rancho Rajneesh, including a shoppng mall,
restaurant, a resort-like motel and commune service offices. In many
cases, Bhagwan followers moved ahead without securing proper county
building permits.

In the meantime, new recruits continued pouring into the desert
commune -many of them wealthy European and American followers who were
more than willing and able to finance the Bhagwan's movement.

But the Rajneesh movement began to falter in October 1981 when two
months after arriving at Rancho Rajneesh, the Bhagwan applied to the
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for an extension of his
visa. Immigration officials began a full-scale investigation into the
activities of the religious sect, focusing on the guru's intent in
coming to the United States and a pattern of suspect marriages between
the U.S. citizen and foreign followers.

The investigation turned up information that the Bhagwan and his
followers left India in the spring of 1981 owing the Indian government
more than $6 million in unpaid taxes. An Indian tax court voided the
Rajneesh organization's tax-exempt status and assessed millions of
rupees (Indian currency) in back taxes.

But the movement forged ahead in the Oregon desert. In April 1982,
Rajneeshees, voting as a bloc, managed to secure enough votes to take
over the town of Antelope, which was renamed Rajneesh. They also voted
to incorporate Rancho Rajneesh -- the former Big Muddy Ranch as the
town of Rajneeshpuram.

With this newly-acquired power, Rajneesh leaders began making more
demands on county and state leaders. They demanded access to records
and reports by Wasco County officials pertaining to the commune and
its activities. They also demanded state basic school support for the
Rajneeshees' school, even though the state rejected the demand, saying
public tax dollars go to support public schools, not private ones like
the Rajneesh school.

But problems were just beginning for the movement. Over the next three
years, Rajneeshee leaders were accused of the salmonella poisonings of
hundreds of residents of The Dalles and some 500 persons filed suit
against the sect. Sheela, along with two other disciples, were accused
in a 1985 federal grand jury indictment of plotting the unsuccessful
murder of the Bhagwan's private physician.

And the Bhagwan himself broke his own vow of public silence in
September 1985 with a scathing attack on Sheela and a half dozen of
her allies, claiming they had betrayed him and his followers and that
they had stolen $55 million from the commune. An article in The
Oregonian on Sept. 17, 1985, quoted the Bhagwan as saying Sheela "and
her gang had turned my commune into a fascist concentration camp."

The Bhagwan's claims that militant Rajneeshees had been stockpiling
assault weapons and had been engaged in illegal wire-tapping at the
ranch touched off a multi-agency investigation into the alleged
criminal activity which proved to be the beginning of the end for
Rajneeshpuram.

On Oct. 23, 1985, a federal grand jury in Portland secretly indicted
the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Sheela and six other Sannyasins for
immigration crimes. Two days later, a Wasco County grand jury returned
indictments against Sheela and two others, charging them with the
attempted murder of Swami Devaraj, the Bhagwan's personal doctor.

By that time, Sheela and about 25 of her followers had already fled
the ranch to Germany.

But Rajneeshpuram was thrown into turmoil on Oct. 28, 1985 when the
Bhagwan' s loyal followers leared he had been arrested in Charlotte,
N.C., trying to flee immigration authorities on a privately-chartered
jet bound for Bermuda.

At about the same time, word arrived from Germany that Sheela and two
Rajneesh women had been arrested by West German police.

The Bhagwan was returned to Oregon to face a 35-count federal
indictment for immigration-related crimes, although he initially pled
innocent to all 35 counts. But as part of the plea-bargaining
agreement with federal prosecutors, the Bhagwan on Nov. 14, 1985,
agreed to plead guilty to two of the felony counts, to pay the court
costs and to leave the United States.

The Bhagwan returned to India and promptly told reporters gathered at
a New Delhi airport that the United States -the place he called a land
of religious freedom and opportunity four years earlier -- was "just a
wretched country."

Within a week of his departure, thousands of former followers were
leaving Rajneeshpuram in busloads. Within a month of their departure,
residents of the former Antelope reclaimed their town -and its
original name. But legal action against the Rajneeshees would continue
for many years.

Sheela and 20 other disciples later were indicted on federal wire-
tapping charges. Numerous civil suits were filed against the bankrupt
religious sect, some of which still have not been resolved.

On July 22, 1986, Sheela was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and
ordered to pay a $400,000 fine after pleading guilty to state and
federal charges which included masterminding a massive electronic
eavesdropping system at Rancho Rajneesh, plotting the attempted murder
of the Bhagwan's physician and plotting the salmonella poisoning of
about 750 people in The Dalles.

For many Rajneeshees, the dream of carving a utopian Shangri-la out of
the barren, Central Oregon desert ended long before Jan. 18, 1990--
the day Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh died in Ashram in Pune, India, at the
age of 58.

For Wasco County Sheriff Art Labrousse, it was a rare learning
experience -- one he says he will never forget.

"They were well organized," Labrousse recalls. Or at least, better
prepared to take control of the tiny town of Antelope than local
officials were prepared to stop them. Labrousse and his 13-Deputy
force had their hands full trying to maintain law and order with the
sudden invasion of thousands of red-clad Rajneeshees into Wasco
County.

What made it so difficult, says Labreusse, was the cloak of secrecy
which seemed to engulf Rancho Rajneesh.

"Few people actually knew what was going on out there," he said.
Labrousse recalled the telephone call to his office on July 3, 1985,
from someone at the ranch reporting a possible drowning in a lake on
the ranch. Before he could summon the Wasco County medical examiner to
the scene, LaBrousse received another call, this time reporting that a
young man had been pulled from the lake and briefly revived. The man
was taken to the medical center in Jefferson County, but died,
Labrousse was told.

Since the attending physician, who was a Rajneeshee doctor, also was
the assistant medical examiner for Sherman County, Labrousse was told
by the state there was no need to call in the state medical examiner.
No body fluid or any other evidence was obtained by the assistant
medical examiner.

"They had a doctor who was an assistant medical examiner for Jefferson
County -- he ruled the man's death was accidental drowning," Labrousse
said.

Two days later, Labrousse was drinking coffee with an Oregon State
Police officer in Antelope. "We were talking about the Fourth of July
fire in The Dalles, caused by fireworks, when one of the Rajneesh
peace officers from Antelope said, 'Well, we had a great fireworks
show ourselves -- we cremated a boy who just died."

©1998 Roxann Gess Smith
All Rights Reserved

Visit Wasco Co. on The American Local History Network

http://gesswhoto.com/sheriff-wasco2.html

Labrousse cringed, not only because it was too late to do anything if
there had been a criminal deed, but because he had heard of similar
cremations occurring at Rancho Rajneesh in the past.

"We'll never know how many were cremated out there," he says. "But
every time they had a festival or celebration out at the ranch, there
was a death."

Labrousse said he sent a memorandum to the Wasco County Board of
Commissioners, suggesting the county not permit any future festivals
or celebrations at the ranch unless Rajneesh officials agreed in
advance that any deaths which occur during the event would be
investigated by the Wasco County medical examiner.

But the county never had to act on Labrousse's recommendation. Within
two weeks, the Bhagwan himself would expose Sheela and her gang and
Rajneeshpuram would begin to crumble.

The Missing Thumb Killer
Pictured Left: Levi Chrisman

Levi Chrisman was involved in dozens of puzzling murder and criminal
investigations during his 22-year tenure as Wasco County Sheriff. But
few were as complex as the shooting death of Jim Doran, a Bend lumber
mill worker, in early September, 1921.

The only clues to the killer's identity were a missing Dodge touring
car and a missing left thumb.

Doran's body had been found by a young couple, driving a lonely
country road two miles west of The Dalles, late one Saturday night.
Doran had been shot four times -- once in the head and at least three
times in the chest. The body was partially hidden behind some bushes
alongside the country road.

In their initial search of the victim's clothing for some type of
identification, investigators found an expensive gold pocket watch and
a few dollars in change. This led Chrisman and his Deputies to assume
robbery was not the motive behind the murder.

Chrisman's Chief Deputy Guy Elton noticed what appeared to be a trail
of blood leading away from the body into a grove of trees. The Sheriff
followed the trail and found a second gunshot victim with a bullet
wound in his shoulder. The man was rushed to a hospital in The
Dalles.

After undergoing successful surgery to remove the slug, the man agreed
to talk to Chrisman and Elton. He said his name was Bill Ducharme, and
he identified his slain companion as Jim Doran. Ducharme said he and
Doran had left Bend earlier that day with a third man, whose name he
could not recall.

Ducharme told the Sheriff that he and Doran had finished work at the
lumber mill and both were anxious to get to Doran's ranch at
McMinnville. But they didn't have transportation. The man, who
appeared to know Doran, offered to drive them in his car if they paid
his expenses. They agreed.

After having dinner in The Dalles that night, Ducharme said the
stranger offered to take them to a friend's place just outside of town
where they could spend the night. But a short way out of town,
Ducharme said the man pulled his car to a halt and told him they would
have to walk across a field to get to his friend's place.

Ducharme told Chrisman he had started out ahead of the other two when
he heard a shot. He turned and saw Doran tumble to the ground. Then,
Ducharme recalled, the stranger started firing at him so he began
running. One of the shots caught him in the shoulder, Ducharme said,
but he kept running until he collapsed in a grove of trees.

The wounded man could give only a general description of the gunman:
Approximately 40 years of age, medium build, black hair, gray eyes.
His description of the man's car was even more general: A large, black
touring car. He couldn't recall the make and didn't notice the license
number.

Chrisman put out the obligatory dispatches to all police officers and
agencies within a 100-mile radius, telling them to be on the lookout
for a large, black touring car with a dark-haired man in his early 40s
behind the wheel. He didn't hold out much hope, however.

When they received no response to the telegrams, Chrisman and Elton
went back to the murder scene the following morning. They found a
clear set of tire tracks in the soft, dirt shoulder of the road and
had the tracks photographed, hoping they could come up with a match
after searching The Dalles for the missing touring car and its tires.
But the hunch proved both time-consuming and futile.

Next, Chrisman and his men went to the lumber mill in Bend, where
Ducharme and Doran had worked, figuring the killer might also be
employed at the mill. None of the employees could remember seeing a
stranger with Ducharme and Doran at the mill the previous Friday when
the mill closed.

With their search for clues at a standstill, Chrisman suggested
investigators canvass gas stations and restaurants along the road the
three men were traveling Saturday, to see if anyone recalled seeing
the trio. The plan worked. A gas station owner reported three men
drove into his station Saturday afternoon in a nearly-new Dodge
touring car. The observant station owner said when the car's driver
paid for the gas, he noticed the man's left thumb was missing. The
station owner described the other two men in the car and they matched
the descriptions of Ducharme and Doran.

Encouraged at last by some useful leads, lawmen began compiling a list
of all new Dodge touring cars in the county and their owners. If one
of the owners had a left thumb missing and the car's tire tread marks
matched those of the tracks found near the murder scene, Chrisman felt
confident they would have their killer.

Unfortunately, Chrisman discovered, there were about 100 persons in
the county who owned newer Dodge touring cars. But with the help of
Deschutes County Sheriff S.E. Roberts and his Deputies, lawmen were
able to whittle the list of possible prospects to four. The first two
men on the list had two thumbs. The third was a man named Abe Evans,
who lived just outside of Bend.

They didn't find Evans at home, but his wife provided the information
they had been seeking: Her husband was missing his left thumb.

Mrs. Evans said her husband had gone to Salem looking for work. She
was able to provide officers with a license number for her husband's
car.

Lawmen put out an all-points bulletin on Abe Evans, along with the
license number of his car and a complete description of the vehicle.

After hearing the broadcast, Jefferson County Sheriff H.C. Topping and
his men began a wide-scale search of county gas stations, restaurants,
garages and motels for the wanted man and his car. They finally found
a motel owner in Metolius, not far from Madras, who informed them he
had rented a room to a man with a missing left thumb and a Dodge
touring car.

They found Evans, in an obvious state of intoxication, in one of the
motel rooms, trying to sleep off his miseries. They took Evans into
custody and transported him and his car to Deschutes County. Chrisman
checked the Dodge touring car's tire treads with his photographs. They
were a perfect match.

Evans denied shooting Ducharme and Doran, claimed he had left them at
a hotel in The Dalles, that he took off on his own, got drunk and
couldn't remember anything after that. But a search of the suspect
turned up $130 in cash. After two days of questioning, however, Evans
broke down and confessed.

He admitted knowing Doran for some time. He said he met Doran in
downtown Bend on Friday, the day before the shooting, and the two
walked to Doran's bank to cash his $150 paycheck from the mill. Doran
told Evans that he and a friend were going to McMinnville to spend the
winter, and Evans admitted that's where he got the idea to offer them
a ride as a way of getting them out into the country where he could
kill and rob them.

Evans told investigators he believed he had killed Ducharme, too. He
said he took Doran's billfold with most of the cash, but left the gold
watch and the change so it would not look like a robbery. He said he
threw the gun into some bushes, drove back to The Dalles to get some
whiskey, and drove south to the motel in Metolius.

A Wasco County Grand Jury indicted Evans of first-degree murder. Evans
pled not guilty by reason of insanity. A Wasco County Circuit Court
jury, however, convicted Evans of first-degree murder, with no
recommendation for mercy.

On Oct. 8, 1921, Evans was sentenced to hang for the killing of Jim
Doran. His attorney appealed the sentence to the Oregon Supreme Court.
But the high court, after numerous legal delays, upheld the sentence.

Evans never went to the gallows, however. On June 5, 1924 -- the day
before he was to be executed-- Gov. Walter M. Pierce commuted Evans'
sentence to life imprisonment.

http://gesswhoto.com/sheriff-wasco3.html

Apologetics Index News Archive - Search Results

Headline: Anand Sheela tends patients in Switzerland
Source: The Oregonian

Date: 1999/12/26

Description: Former Rajneeshee leader Anand Sheela -- once notorious
in Oregon as the spokeswoman for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh -- now takes
care of frail and elderly patients in two private nursing homes in
Switzerland.

Headline: Indian guru follower Anand Sheela arrested after German TV
show
Source: The Oregonian

Date: 2000/01/22

Description: German police picked up Anand Sheela in a town near
Frankfort, Germany, last week after she appeared on a television show
to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of her former mentor, Indian
guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Sheela was quickly released, however,
because the Interpol warrant for her arrest had been canceled.

Headline: Experts Assess Risk of 'New Terrorism' Threat
Source: Los Angeles Times

Date: 2000/02/07

Description: They called it the ''new terrorism:'' a virulent strain
of anti-American aggression in which enemies without scruples would
use germs and toxic gases, not guns and bombs, to kill tens of
thousands of civilians at a stroke.

Headline: Meditation protected by patent
Source: NZZ Daily Edition

Date: 2000/06/29

Description: Now a dispute has broken out over that in India which
has burst the scintillating soap bubble of the symbiosis of money and
spirit. Professor Jain still likes to talk so beautifully about
dissolving all restricting relationships and he plunders the world's
literature in doing so, but when it comes to bringing his insights of
''One World'' to the people, he pays very close attention to setting
up his own boundary posts in the form of trademarks, patents,
copyrights and license agreements. Even Dynamic Kundalini Meditation
has been reported as a trademark.

Headline: A Sign of Mammon
Source: taz (Germany)

Date: 2000/07/20

Description: Who would be surprised that, in the commune, a bitter
power struggle is raging for control of hundreds of meditation centers
around the world, for the marketing rights of 1,500 book titles, and
of sound cassettes and videotapes of lectures from the Master.

Headline: Expert: US Open To Bioterrorism
Source: AP

Date: 2000/08/22

Description: Advances in technology make the United States more
vulnerable to bioterrorism than to nuclear attack, a leading expert in
defending against biological weapons said Tuesday.

Headline: Former cult camp becomes playground for children
Source: AP

Date: 2000/08/27

Description: The middle schoolers go about their summer camp
activities, unaware that all around them, thousands of followers once
toiled in the service of their leader, the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Headline: FDA Designates Bioterrorism Antidote
Source: AP

Date: 2000/08/31

Description: If bioterrorists ever attack the United States with
anthrax, the antibiotic Cipro will be the first line of defense for
civilians who breathe the deadly bacteria, the government decided
Thursday.

Headline: The battle over bio-terror
Source: Salon

Date: 2000/09/12

Description: In short, ''We can conjure up a worse-case scenario,''
says John Parachini, chief of the Washington office of the Monterey
Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies. ''But we can also
conjure up a meteor hitting the Earth.''

Headline: Two Rajneeshee members plead guilty
Source: The Oregonian

Date: 2000/12/16

Description: Two high-ranking officials in Oregon's once notorious
Rajneeshee cult pleaded guilty Friday to 15-year-old federal
wiretapping charges, canceling international warrants that effectively
confined them to Great Britain.
Notes:

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&keyword=rajneesh&mh=10&sb=---&so=descend&view_records=View+Records

Headline: Biological weapons pose threat to Canada, U.S., scientist
says
Source: Edmonton Journal (Canada)

Date: 2001/03/11

Description: That's the view of U.S. scientist Dr. Ronald Atlas who
has been advising the U.S. government on the growing concern that
criminals will target food, water, air and individuals with viruses,
bacteria, fungi and toxins to further their cause.

Headline: Osho, Guru Extraordinaire, Is Long Gone -- But His Books
Live On
Source: Inside

Date: 2001/05/15

Description: Once known for his fleet of Rolls-Royces, the late
motivational thinker Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is now being packaged as
Deepak Chopra minus the Ayurvedic medicine. His sales are in the
millions, and his returns a mere 4 percent.

Headline: Biological and Chemical Warfare Q and A
Source: ABC News

Date: 2001/09/24

Description: Now that terrorists have demonstrated they're capable of
carrying out unthinkable attacks of extreme devastation, some believe
the United States should be on higher alert for a biological or
chemical attack. ABCNEWS.com talked to several experts to learn about
these weapons, the preparedness of the United States for such attacks
and possible defenses against them,

Headline: America's First Bioterrorism Attack
Source: TIME

Date: 2001/10/08

Description: In the fall of 1984, members of the Rajneeshee, a
Buddhist cult devoted to beauty, love and guiltless sex, brewed a
"salsa" of salmonella and sprinkled it on fruits and veggies in the
salad bar at Shakey's Pizza in The Dalles, Ore. They put it in blue-
cheese dressing, table-top coffee creamers and potato salads at 10
local restaurants and a supermarket. They poured it into a glass of
water and handed it to a judge. They fed it to the district attorney,
the doctor, the dentist. Their plan: to seize control of the county
government by packing polling booths with imported homeless people
while making local residents too sick to vote.

Headline: Oregon town has never gotten over its 1984 bioterrorism
scare
Source: AP

Date: 2001/10/19

Description: In 1984, followers of the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh spiked salad bars at 10 restaurants in town with salmonella
and sickened about 750 people.

Headline: Apocalyptic cult methods explain bin Laden
Source: USA Today

Date: 2001/11/05

Description: Hassan observes that many of the techniques that he
encountered with the Moonies are evident in bin Laden's camps: "social
isolation, controlling their sleep, showing them non-stop videos of
Muslims dying, being buddied up, so that they're never alone. ...
Destructive mind control strips away their ability to think for
themselves." The cult framework goes a little way to explaining the
dissonance between who these hijackers were and what they eventually
did on behalf of al-Qa'eda.

Headline: Microbes were mail-ordered : Lax controls let extremists
easily obtain anthrax

Source: Boston Globe

Date: 2001/11/06

Description: Harris's story illustrates some of the challenges US
officials face as they try to determine whether foreign or domestic
terrorists sent the anthrax-laced letters that have killed four
people.

Headline: Cults, terrorist groups share chilling similarities,
experts say
Source: The Oregonian

Date: 2001/11/13

Description: Oregonians were shocked to learn in 1985 that this
outpost of transplanted suburbanites was a launching pad for the first
large-scale biological attack in U.S. history: the poisoning of 751
people in The Dalles with restaurant food sprinkled with salmonella
germs grown in a commune laboratory. But cult psychology experts say
such incidents should come as no great surprise to anyone. They merely
underscore the fact that seemingly normal, well-educated people can be
persuaded to commit unthinkable crimes, including flying airliners
into skyscrapers.

Headline: FDA issues anti-terror food advice
Source: FDA

Date: 2002/01/10

Description: The only known terror attack on U.S. food occurred in
the 1980s, when a cult in Oregon contaminated salad bars with
salmonella bacteria. Experts say fresh produce may be the food most
vulnerable to tampering because it is often eaten raw and is subject
to little government inspection.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&keyword=rajneesh&mh=10&sb=---&so=descend&view_records=View+Records&nh=2

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

WRAPUP 2-Japan finmin wary of any formal policy accord with BOJ

(Adds more comments)
By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO,
March 10 (Reuters) -

Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan shot down the idea of a formal
policy pact with the Bank of
Japan as the government aims to strike a delicate balance
between pushing the central bank to ease policy further and
respecting its independence. The idea of a formal policy accord has
been floated in the
past by critics of the central bank who feel it could be doing
more to combat grinding deflation that has plagued the world's
second-largest economy for most of the past 15 years. But Kan, who has
also been calling on the BOJ to take
bolder action, said he saw no immediate need for such a pact,
echoing the view held by a majority of policy makers and
politicians wary of threatening the central bank's
independence. "I gather advocates of such a policy want an arrangement
where the government increases the deficits and the BOJ
cooperates by buying more government debt," said Izuru Kato,
chief economist at Totan Research. "They must be thinking central bank
independence allows the
BOJ to be too hesitant about buying government bonds and
therefore they should strip the BOJ of its independence," Kato
said. Kan steered clear of saying exactly what he wants the
central bank to do at its policy meeting next week, where
further easing is likely to be discussed. [ID:nTOE6230A7] BOJ board
member Miyako Suda, seen as hawkish on monetary
policy, said on Wednesday that the central bank will maintain a
very accommodative stance, but she added that the BOJ had
implemented an appropriate policy on prices. "Suda did not sound so
positive about taking more steps
blindly. It's not clear how strong the measures the BOJ takes
next week will be," said Naomi Hasegawa, senior strategist at
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. With the government's room for further
fiscal stimulus
limited by a public debt that is already close to 200 percent
of GDP, the six-month old administration has put pressure on
the central bank to stem deflation. But the BOJ's options are limited
as long as the economic
outlook remains weak. Expectations of further price declines in future
could
persuade consumers and companies to delay spending and
investment even longer, adding more pressure on the economy.
Until demand picks up and more money flows into the system,
prices will struggle to recover. The BOJ has said prices will rise
eventually as the economy
mends. TOO MUCH INDEPENDENCE? Japan's central bank law guarantees the
BOJ independence in
its policy decisions, but it also requires the bank to
communicate with the government to ensure its policy is in line
with the government's economic policy. Few in the top circle of
Japanese policymakers see the need
for a change in those stipulations. "I am cautious about the framework
of an accord," Kan, also
deputy prime minister, told a parliamentary committee on
Wednesday in response to an opposition lawmaker's question. But some
politicians, mostly from the opposition, have said
the BOJ needs to be more accountable for its decisions, blaming
it for putting Japan in deflation for much of the past 15
years. The BOJ is likely to debate easing again at its March 16-17
board meeting, after introducing a new funding operation in
December amid a wave of government pressure as the yen climbed
versus the dollar. [ID:nTOE6230A7] "If they increase the cheap funding
operation to replace
the corporate support scheme that expires in March, that's
probably already priced in," said Hasegawa of Mitsubishi UFJ
Securities. The Bank of Japan's Suda dropped few hints, repeating the
BOJ's view that easy policy alone is no panacea for deflation.
"Although maintaining easy monetary policy is the top
priority, it is important for the Japanese economy to undergo
bold structural reform as much as it needs a recovery," she
said, referring to the need to fix Japan's pension system and
get public finances in order to reduce concerns about the
future. "If structural reform is delayed, it would undermine the
stimulative effect of monetary policy," she said. Japan's core
machinery orders fell slightly less than
expected in January from the previous month, data showed on
Wednesday, offering more evidence that capital expenditure will
keep growing slowly this year as manufacturers raise spending. Core
private-sector machinery orders, a highly volatile
series regarded as an indicator of capital spending, fell 3.7
percent in January, less than a median market forecast for a
4.1 percent decline, after a 20.1 percent jump in December.

[JPMORD=ECI] ECONJP But the data also showed non-manufacturers remain
wary on
capital spending, highlighting the weakness in domestic demand. Annual
wholesale price deflation eased to 1.5 percent in
February on a recent rise in commodity prices. But economists say
deflationary pressure is likely to
continue due to the big gap between supply and demand. Japan pulled
out of recession in April-June last year,
helped by a rebound in exports and industrial output as well as
a rise in consumption due to government subsidies. But
economists expect growth to slow early this year as the
government cuts public works and the impact of subsidies
fades.

(Additional reporting by Rie Ishiguro, Stanley White, Leika
Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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Yen holds firm, Aussie supported before China data
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Euro gives up gains, yen steadies after fall
Mar 8, 2010
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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62901R20100310

March 10, 2010, 12:52 a.m.

WORLD FOREX: Euro Ticks Up Vs Yen On Japan Importer Buying
By Miho Nakauchi

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The euro ticked up against the yen in Asia
Wednesday, as Japanese importers buying the single currency on a
regular settlement day set the tone of the market amid a lack of other
trading cues.

But further gains are far from certain, dealers said, with the euro's
near-term direction resting on developments in the euro-zone's fiscal
problem and upcoming economic data.

As of 0450 GMT, the euro stood at Y122.44, slightly up from Y122.36 in
New York late Tuesday. Against the dollar, the unit traded at $1.3602
from $1.3601.

"Overall currency moves were very limited" with share markets almost
unchanged and a lack of major economic data, meaning that Japanese
importers' buying flows became more dominant and set the trend, said
Yuzo Sakai, a foreign-exchange manager at Tokyo Forex & Ueda Harlow.

Japanese importers tend to buy the currency on regular settlement
days, which fall on the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th of each month.

At 0450 GMT, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average index was down 0.08%.

Dealers said the European single currency could fall toward $1.3300
and Y119.00 over the next few weeks if any negative news emerges on
Europe's fiscal issues, adding to concerns over its economic outlook,
dealers said.

The focus is on European countries' huge levels of debt, said Hideaki
Inoue, a chief foreign-exchange manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and
Banking Corp. "Growing expectations for sovereign debt default could
prompt mid- and long-term players to sell" the euro, he said.

Although most players are bearish toward the euro, better-than-
expected economic data could help restore investor confidence,
possibly buoying the risk-sensitive euro toward $1.3700 and Y123.50,
some dealers said. Investors will monitor U.S. retail sales for
February and Reuters/University Of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey
for March, both due Friday, for any hints on the health of the global
economy.

Elsewhere, the dollar stood at Y90.00 as of 0450 GMT, almost unchanged
from its New York level of Y89.97 Tuesday. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index,
which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of
currencies, was at 80.576 from 80.580.

The U.S. unit may fall toward Y89.50 in coming weeks, traders said.
Japanese exporters may repatriate overseas assets as we move toward
Japan's fiscal year-end on Mar. 31, which could weigh on the U.S.
unit, dealers said.

1.China's trade surplus shrinks further in February
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-trade-surplus-shrinks-further-in-february-2010-03-09

2.The rise and certain fall of the American Empire
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-rise-and-certain-fall-of-the-american-empire-2010-03-09

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/world-forex-euro-ticks-up-vs-yen-on-japan-importer-buying-2010-03-10

Currencies
March 10, 2010, 3:46 a.m. EST · Recommend · Post:

Dollar rises vs. euro as German trade data disappointView all
Currencies ›
By MarketWatch

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar got a lift against the euro
Wednesday when trade data from Germany, a key euro-zone economy, came
in worse than expected.

News Hub: Economist Warns of More Volatility AheadAnirvan Banerji,
director of research at Economic Cycle Research, joins the News Hub to
discuss why he believes the U.S. economy will experience more frequent
recessions ahead.
Germany's exports increased by 0.2% and imports dropped by 1.4% in
January 2010 compared to the same month a year ago, the Federal
Statistical Office reported on Wednesday. Compared to December 2009,
exports fell by 6.3% in January and imports rose by 6.0%. Germany's
seasonally-adjusted foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of 8.7
billion euros in January, official data showed.

"This was the weakest reading since the March of 2009 when the global
economy was in the throes of its worst contraction in [the] post-war
period. The news was especially surprising given the decline in the
euro/U.S. dollar over the past several months," said Boris
Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT.

He added that the trade balance data were "not helpful to the single
currency which has been battered by concerns over sovereign debt
problems of Greece, Portugal and Spain."

The euro slipped to $1.3551, from $1.3598 in late North American
trading Tuesday, and the British pound skidded to $1.4898, from
$1.4991.

The dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0 (DXY 80.67, +0.08,
+0.10%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket
of six major currencies, rose to 80.851, from 80.580 late Tuesday.

The greenback bought 89.96 yen, compared with 89.98 yen late Tuesday.

But the Australian dollar was up 0.1% against its U.S. counterpart, to
91.43 U.S. cents.

The Aussie "outperformed, with better than expected Chinese trade data
underpinning global recovery hopes in the region," said analysts at
Action Economics.

China's trade surplus narrowed further in February to $7.6 billion
from $14.2 billion in January. When compared with the same month last
year, both exports and imports grew at a higher-than-expected rate,
with the value of imports climbing 44.7%, reflecting growing domestic
consumption in mainland China. The value of outbound goods and
services surged 45.7% from February 2009 on a recovery in demand for
Chinese goods. Read more on China trade data.

On Tuesday, the U.S. dollar advanced versus the euro and British
pound, finding support amid ongoing worries about debt problems in the
euro zone after warnings of downgrades from Fitch Ratings and Moody's
Investors Service. See Tuesday's Currencies report.

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Raymond Richman - Jesse Richman - Howard
Richman

Richmans' Trade and Taxes Blog

The Obama Administration's Agenda to Balance Trade
Raymond Richman, 3/9/2010

On March 1, 2010, Ambassador Ron Kirk, United States Trade
Representative, disclosed “The President's 2010 Trade Policy Agenda”,
a suicide pill for the U.S. economy. For three decades, every
administration had more or less the same agenda. Ignore the trade
deficits or just accept them as the inevitable result of competitive
forces, which they are not. If China, Japan, Germany, and others want
to exchange their valuable goods for our money, why should we
complain? We can print more. It is hard to believe that that was and
continues to be the attitude of the vast majority of economists.
They’ve been brain-washed into believing that market forces must
inevitably restore a balance of trade. We pointed out in our book,
Trading Away Our Future (Ideal Taxes Assn, Jan., 2008) that free trade
was not justified by economic theory, that China, like Japan before
it, was deliberately pursuing the mercantilist policy of promoting a
surplus of exports over imports by erecting all sorts of barriers to
imports while subsidizing exports, keeping its currency artificially
undervalued to make its imports expensive and its exports cheap, by
buying U.S. financial assets to keep U.S.interest rates low to
American consumers, to discourage savings and encourage consumption.
Not until recently did an eminent economist like Prof. Paul Krugman
condemn China’s mercantilist practices and suggest U.S. counteraction.
Until then, he believed no country would find it in its interest to
accumulate financial assets rather than goods.

The slow-acting suicide pill suddenly accelerated in the mid-1990s.
The result was the loss of millions of U.S. industrial jobs. How many?
To balance trade at the level of imports in 2008, we would have to
create eight million industrial jobs. The defenders of U.S. trade
policy point to our achievement of full employment in 2007, neglecting
to mention that the competition of factory workers who lost their well-
paying jobs lowered workers’ earnings of all workers. As a result,
wages have stagnated over the past three decades, fewer workers enjoy
middle class incomes, income distribution has worsened, and the U.S.
is on the verge of becoming a second-rate industrial power if it has
not already achieved that distinction. ...

In an incredible display of sycophancy, the document asserts that the
administration’s goal is “Making Trade Work for America’s Working
Families.” America’s Working Families? They have been the big losers
as a result of our tolerance of our huge chronic trade deficits. The
document asserts that “President Obama’s economic strategy halted the
slide into a deep economic crisis and laid the foundation for renewed
American prosperity that is more sustainable, fairer for more of our
citizens, and more competitive globally.” That remains to be seen.
Since the President took office, the unemployment rate, including
those who lost their factory jobs as a result of the trade deficits,
has continued to grow and grow.

The Trade Representative gives lip service to the lip-service of the
G-20 nations who pledged in 2009 to work toward balancing trade. It
displays the same Pollyanna-ish reliance on market forces. All we have
to do is increase our exports by $800 billion. His report states that
the U.S. has reacted to unfair trade practices by imposing
countervailing duties on countries committing infractions of trade
rules like dumping (Chinese tires) and even getting China to further
open its market to “American wind energy products.” Just the other
day, there were protests in the Congress against imported wind
turbines, which, to add injury to injury, are heavily subsidized by
the U.S. government. The President has set a goal “of doubling U.S.
exports in the next five years” to create 2 million jobs. He created a
new bureaucracy called the Export Promotion Cabinet which will fund
export promotion programs, tools for small- and medium-sized
businesses, reduction in barriers to trade, and open new markets. It
joins hundred of federal agencies designed to do-good but end up doing-
nothing.

The report recites: “Effective trade policy helps increase exports
that yield well-paying jobs for Americans … studies show that firms
engaged in trade usually grow faster, hire more, and on average pay
better wages than those that do not. In recent years, exports of
manufactured goods have become an important source of employment,
supporting almost one in five of all manufacturing jobs.” No mention,
not a single mention of the jobs lost to imports, the amount of the
trade deficite, and the declining number of employees in industry,
month after month after month! There is this acknowledgment, “We have
to be frank in recognizing that some Americans lose jobs as markets
shift in response to trade.” So we have enacted a Trade Adjustment
Assistance Act to assist those who lose their jobs to adjust to their
new status. No new export jobs are created by the Act.

That is about all the response the loss of millions of American jobs
has occasioned. Nothing to balance trade except statements that we
need to be more competitive and the international community (the
G-20?) should increase their domestic consumption and imports as part
of a more balanced growth strategy! Don’t hold your breath.

It announces to the world that the United States is committed to the
multilateral trade rules of the WTO system, to trade liberalization
“through negotiation and a defense against protectionism”, the
strongest country in the world announcing that we will not take
unilateral action against the mercantilist practices of such “weak”
countries like China, Japan, Germany, and OPEC. They can continue
their practices, impose barriers to our exports, grant subsidies to
their exports until we petition the WTO for a remedy. The WTO rules
already authorize countries experiencing chronic trade deficits to
take unilateral action including the imposition of tariffs and other
barriers to imports. Why haven’t we done anything to protect our
industry and industrial workers from such destructive trade practices?
La-de-da, it would be so unbecoming a great nation. Our elitists want
to be loved by the world’s elite, who are by-and-large antii-American.

Attempting to counter the impression that it is doing nothing, the
report points to its action responding to “a harmful surge of Chinese
tire imports”, challenging restrictions on U.S. exports of
agricultural products, and filing suit over Chinese export quotas and
duties on raw materials needed by core U.S. industrial sectors from
steel and aluminum to chemicals. Good, those are useful actions but
the number of jobs created relative to the number of jobs lost to the
trade deficits is infinitesimal.

What the U.S. has been engaged in is talk, talk, talk. It needs to
concentrate on jobs, jobs, jobs. The government has engaged in
discussions, just talk, with China, India, Brazil, Russia. It
sponsored and entered into negotiations for a regional, Asia-Pacific
trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Agreement, with Australia, Brunei, Chile, NewZealand, Peru, Singapore,
and Vietnam. Not one industrial job has been created or ever will be.

Another initiative is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum. The U.S. will host APEC in 2011. The report writes, “To this
end, we are coordinating with the 2010 host nation, Japan, on an
ambitious agenda that engages APEC’s broad membership on crucial trade
and investment topics for the region’s future. Initiatives in APEC are
a successfully demonstrated way of building a stronger and
constructive American role in the Asia-Pacific market.” Aside from
costing a lot of money and providing a free vacation to a lot of anti-
Americans, how many jobs producing goods for export will it create?
Not a single job.

The report recites that “Bilateral relationships are crucial. But as
we know, multi-faceted regional economic relationships are of major,
and even growing, importance for United States and for the world.”
Where is the evidence that it is important, let alone of increasing
importance, to the U.S. The administration is doing and plans to do a
lot of talking. In place of jobs, jobs, jobs, it is placing emphasis
on talk, talk, talk.

http://www.idealtaxes.com/post3074.shtml

UPDATE 1-Japan finmin wary of policy accord with BOJ

TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan said
he saw no immediate need to have a more formal policy pact with the
Bank of Japan as the government and the central bank already share a
common goal of beating deflation.

Kan, who took over at the Finance Ministry in January, has been
calling on the central bank to do more to end deflation, but has
steered clear of saying exactly what he wants the central bank to do.

Asked by an opposition lawmaker if he thought a formal agreement with
the central bank would help, Kan said: "It's questionable whether it's
good to have an explicit policy accord. The BOJ governor has already
said in public that the bank wants inflation from plus zero to plus 2
percent ...

"I am cautious about the framework of an accord," Kan, also deputy
prime minister, told a parliamentary committee.

With the government's room for further fiscal stimulus limited by a
public debt that is already close to 200 percent of GDP, the six-month
old administration has put pressure on the central bank to stem
deflation.

Japan's central bank law guarantees the BOJ independence in its policy
decisions, but it also requires the bank to communicate with the
government to ensure its policy is in line with the government's
economic policy.

The central bank is likely to debate easing its ultra-loose monetary
policy again at its board meeting on March 16-17, after introducing a
new funding operation in December under a previous wave of government
pressure as the yen climbed versus the dollar. [ID:nTOE6230A7]

One member of the bank's policy board, Miyako Suda, said on Wednesday
that the central bank will maintain a very accommodative monetary
policy stance to help the country escape deflation.

"The BOJ intends to continue making its contribution to help the
Japanese economy escape deflation and return to a sustained growth
path with price stability," Suda said at a roundtable conference
hosted by the Economist Group.

But Suda also repeated the BOJ's view that easy policy alone will not
be a panacea for deflation.

"Although maintaining easy monetary policy is the top priority, it is
important for the Japanese economy to undergo bold structural reform
as much as it needs recovery... If structural reform is delayed, it
would undermine the stimulative effect of monetary policy," she said.

BOJ officials have said further monetary policy easing will have
little impact on boosting prices, with interest rates already near
zero.

Suda added that the BOJ had taken appropriate steps on monetary policy
and that she didn't think aiming for a high inflation rate would
resolve the shock of the financial crisis. (Reporting by Hideyuki
Sano, Stanley White and Rie Ishiguro; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62900K20100310?type=marketsNews

FOREX-Yen rises on Japan exporters; sterling falters

By Masayuki Kitano TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - The yen rose broadly on
Tuesday on
dollar and euro selling by Japanese exporters, while sterling
faltered on weak data and after Moody's said Britain faces a
dilemma over its support for the banking sector. The yen also climbed
with short-term traders taking cues from
a dip in Nikkei share average .N225 and U.S. stock index
futures SPc1, as demand for riskier assets ebbed. "Japanese exporters
are in the market and selling pretty
actively, including the euro against the yen," said Yuji
Matsuura, joint general manager at Aozora Bank's forex and
derivatives trading group. There could be more yen-buying by Japanese
exporters during
the week, and there might also be some flows in the last week of
March, just before they close their books at the end of Japan's
fiscal year, Matsuura said. Market players said, however, that gains
in the yen have been
limited by speculation that the Bank of Japan may take further
steps to ease monetary policy. The euro fell 0.4 percent to 122.59 yen
EURJPY=R, off a
two-week high of 123.90 yen struck on EBS on Monday. The euro also
dropped against the dollar, dipping 0.1 percent
to $1.3615 EUR= but was still well off last week's $1.3433, its
lowest in more than nine months. The euro struggled after Greek Prime
Minister George
Papandreou warned on Monday that if the Greek crisis worsened it
could lead to a new global financial meltdown. [ID:nLDE6271WD].
Sterling fell 0.3 percent to $1.5014 GBP=D4 and shed 0.7
percent to 135.08 yen GBPJPY=R. Data showing that British house prices
grew last month at
their slowest pace since August weighed on sterling.

[ID:nLAG006161] Another negative factor for sterling was a Moody's
Investors
Service report saying Britain faces a difficult balancing act in
deciding how and when to reduce support for the banking sector,
given growth in the UK's public debt burden. [ID:nLDE6271OB]

EYES ON BOJ MEETING The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 90.01 yen JPY=. The
greenback had rallied on the yen to a two-week high of
90.69 yen on EBS on Monday, after a better-than-expected U.S.
jobs report backed views that the U.S. Federal Reserve will lift
rates faster than the Bank of Japan. The report had also bolstered
demand for higher-yielding
currencies and riskier assets like stocks and commodities, on
improved economic prospects. The Australian dollar fell 0.3 percent
against the yen
AUDJPY=R and the New Zealand dollar shed 0.6 percent
NZDJPY=R. The dollar is likely to be supported at levels around 89.50
yen on speculation about more monetary easing steps from the BOJ,
possibly at its policy meeting next week, said a trader for a
Japanese trust bank. The BOJ meeting is in the spotlight after the
Nikkei
newspaper reported on Friday that the BOJ was examining easing
again and may decide on such a move when it meets on March 16-17.
Sources familiar with the matter said the BOJ is likely to
debate this month easing its ultra-loose monetary policy again.

[ID:nTOE6230A7] The most likely next step for the BOJ is to expand the
fund-supply operation it put in place in December, under which it
lends to banks at 0.1 percent, either by increasing the size from
10 trillion yen ($110.7 billion) or extending the duration of
loans from the current three months. Even if such steps are taken, the
market impact could be
limited given how low yen money market rates are already, said a
trader for a European bank. "Basically, the aim may be to achieve an
announcement effect
and the market has factored in a lot of that," the trader said,
adding that the dollar could fall against the yen if the BOJ
stands pat and unveils no new measures.

(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney, Satomi Noguchi
and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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Mar 7, 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6270JL20100308?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r4:c0.250000:b31625032:z0

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Analysis: Greece's crisis could presage America's
By TOM RAUM (AP) – 10 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Greece is a financial basket case, begging for
international help. Is America heading down that same road?

Many of the same risky financial practices that now imperil the Greeks
were at the center of the all-too-recent U.S. meltdown.

As with Greece, America's national debt has been growing by leaps and
bounds over the past decade, to the point where it threatens to swamp
overall economic output. And in the U.S., as in Greece, a large
portion of that debt is owed to foreign investors.

Not good, if these debt holders begin to wonder if they'll be paid
back. A foreign flight from U.S. Treasury securities could sow
financial chaos in the United States, as happened when many investors
lost faith in Greek bonds.

It's something that could affect all Americans. The U.S. has never
defaulted on a debt, and even the hint of such a possibility could
send interest rates soaring and choke off a fragile recovery.

How long can the United States remain the world's largest economy as
well as the world's largest debtor?

"Not indefinitely," suggests former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan. "History tells us that great powers when they've gotten
into very significant fiscal problems have ceased to be great powers."

After all, Spain dominated the 16th century world, France the 17th
century and Great Britain much of the 18th and 19th before the United
States rose to supremacy in the 20th century.

"Unless we do things dramatically different, including strengthening
our investments in research and education, the 21st century will
belong to China and India," suggests Norman Augustine, the former CEO
of Lockheed Martin who chaired a 2009 bipartisan commission studying
the nation's top challenges.

The Greek government has taken stiff austerity steps in an effort to
get a lifeline from the European Union, sparking strikes and violent
demonstrations.

Some of the same risky strategies used by U.S. hedge funds and other
professional investors in a failed effort to profit from subprime
mortgages in this country — and which led to the 2008 financial near-
collapse — are now being employed by those betting that Greece will
default on its debt.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who met with President Barack
Obama at the White House on Tuesday, is calling for "decisive and
collective action" here and in Europe to crack down on such rampant
speculation and unregulated bets. He is also seeking more favorable
European interest rates for loans.

Speaking outside the White House, Papandreou welcomed support from
Obama and some European leaders for such efforts and for the austerity
measures taken by his own government. He said it shows the "labor and
sacrifices are not wasted. Of course, our struggle is not ended, it
continues."

Many economists say it's a stretch to compare the U.S. economy, by far
the world's largest, to Greece and other distressed small economies of
southern Europe. They say many of Greece's problems are unique to that
nation and aggravated by a monetary system that rigidly binds 16
nations to the same currency, the euro.

But others argue it may only be a matter of time before the U.S. faces
a similar, and potentially graver, crisis.

"Someday it will happen if we don't get our act together on spending,
our debt under control and our economy to grow faster," said Allen
Sinai, chief global economist for New York-based Decision Economics
Inc., which provides financial advice to corporations and governments.

With signs pointing to a weaker recovery than after other post-World
War II recessions, U.S. consumer spending is likely to remain
unimpressive and the jobless rate high for some time. Sinai said that
suggests there won't be enough growth to push down federal deficits by
much. "It's a political keg of dynamite," he said.

Greece's national debt now equals more than 100 percent of its gross
domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity. U.S. debt
— now $12.5 trillion — is fast closing in on the same dubious
milestone.

Nearly all of Greek's debt is held by foreign governments and
investors. In the United States, roughly half is owned by global
investors, with China holding the largest stake.

By contrast, Japan's debt is proportionately even bigger — about twice
its GDP — but the impact is cushioned by the fact that most is held by
Japanese households.

"The more open you are to the rest of the world, the more likely
you're going to have a problem if you start running large deficits and
large debt loads," said Mark Zandi, founder of Moody's Economy.com,
and a frequent adviser to lawmakers of both parties.

Zandi does not see any major fallout from the Greek fiscal crisis in
the United States for now, other than a possible temporary hit on
potential European export markets.

However, he said, "global investors at some point are going to start
demanding a higher interest rate. And that's our moment of truth. If
we don't address it by cutting spending and raising taxes, some
combination of the two, then we're going to have a problem."

Polls show growing public anger over deficits and government spending.
The issue is a potent one for the upcoming midterm elections, and a
particular liability for majority-party Democrats.

Calls have sounded from both sides of the political aisle for deficit
reduction. And Obama last month set up a bipartisan deficit commission
to find ways to get the country's budget deficit, now adding more than
$1 trillion a year to the national debt, under control.

But the panel is a weak substitute for what Obama really wanted — a
commission created by Congress that could force lawmakers to vote on
remedies to reduce the debt.

EDITOR'S NOTE _ Tom Raum covers economics and politics for The
Associated Press.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou walks away after talking to the
media in front of the West Wing of the White House in Washington,
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, following a meeting with President Barack
Obama. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i8fvUrHUOkJVfaq5UBxHCYV85s3wD9EBDPRO2

Fears of a Greek bank run
By Dody Tsiantar, contributorMarch 9, 2010: 3:33 PM ET

(Fortune) -- In the middle of the 2001 debt crisis, Argentines stormed
their nation's banks to get their money out. To stop the stampede, the
government imposed controls that allowed them to take out only $250 at
a time and limited withdrawals for overseas trips to $1,000.

Greece, in the middle of its own financial crisis, is teetering on the
brink of a default. Many of its wealthier citizens are also uneasy
about what lies ahead for their cash. According to estimates from
private bankers in Greece and Cyprus, as much as 10 billion euros have
left the country for Greek-owned bank subsidiaries in Switzerland and
Cyprus in the last couple of months.

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"Customers are coming...from Greece on a daily basis," says one
private banker who works for a Greek bank in Cyprus. "They fly here in
the morning, bring us a check and fly back to Athens in the
afternoon."

One banker in Athens reports that many of his clients have sent funds
out of the country in recent weeks, fearing that the government will
take a bigger bite of their money. "They're afraid they'll have to pay
tax on their cash," he says.

Countries in economic turmoil historically look for unpopular ways to
raise revenue, according to economists. So when things start to go
sour, "everyone becomes convinced that the stage is being set for
higher taxes," says former IMF economist Dev Kar, the lead economist
for Global Financial Integrity, an international policy research
center. "People with wealth then ship their money out, so government
does not come and get it when it all comes crashing down."

But growing concerns that Greece's financial crisis will spill over to
its banking system appear to be driving most of the outflow. The fear
isn't totally unfounded: Late last month, Fitch Ratings downgraded the
country's four major private-sector banks to two notches above junk
status on fears that demand for loans may plunge, denting their
potential profitability .

"I'm scared," says one 40-year-old Athenian woman, who's considering
taking her nest egg to Cyprus. "I want to take my money out of the
country before the banks run out of cash."

Not as bad as it seems

A run on the bank, a la Argentina, is not imminent, say banking and
government officials. They acknowledge that money is leaving the
country, but say that reports of massive capital outflows are "grossly
overstated."

"There is a trickle, but nothing like a real flight that would put the
system under pressure," says Anthimos Thomopoulos, chief financial
officer of the National Bank of Greece, which holds a third of
Greece's 250 billion euro total deposit pool.

The situation isn't overly worrisome right now, bank and government
officials say, because most of the money has flowed to those Greek-
owned banks abroad and should, in theory, be easier to repatriate.
What's happening, says Nikolaos Karamouzis, deputy CEO of Eurobank
EFG, a private bank in Greece with 84 billion euro in assets, is "not
materially significant, despite the fact that there is widespread
concern among our clients."

Exactly how much cash has left the country since the crisis exploded
in mid-December is hard to determine, however. According to the most
recent quarterly statistics available, the national deposit pool at
the end of December dropped by less than a half a percent. But
analysts point out those numbers do not reflect the full impact of the
crisis, which picked up momentum in January and February after the
government announced its belt-tightening measures.

A pesos to drachmas comparison

Unlike Greece today, Argentina's government had an arsenal of
financial tools in 2001 to deal with its crisis. It devalued the peso
and imposed capital controls. But as a member of the European Union,
Greece does not have those options; it can't devalue, and because the
Union has rules that call for a free movement of capital within its
boundaries, it can't stop citizens or businesses from moving cash from
one partner country to another.

"The only way Greece could impose capital controls would be to leave
the EU," says Michael Melvin, head of currency and fixed income
research at global asset management firm BlackRock. "And there's close
to zero probability of that."

A return to the drachma isn't likely any time soon either, but Greek
citizens do have good reason to believe that taxes are going to go up.
The socialist government of Prime Minister George Papandreou has
already announced a slew of tax hikes, including increases in the
value-added tax, new excise taxes on luxury goods, such as yachts and
cars, and up to a 20% tax on cigarettes, alcohol and fuel.

0:00 /1:24Greece: Another crisis looms

In addition, a key tenet of the socialist government's plan is to go
after tax cheats aggressively -- economists figure that nearly 30% of
the country's gross domestic product goes unreported to authorities.
For decades, Greece's shadow economy has thrived because many Greeks
-- doctors, plumbers, electricians and lawyers among them -- conduct
business entirely in cash. Much of that money has ended up in bank
accounts in other countries, say economists -- and a lot of it is not
reflected in national statistics.

"The outflow of cash from Greece is not a new phenomenon. If you could
calculate the outflow of the last 50 years, you'd get an astronomical
figure," says University of Maryland economics professor Theodore
Kariotis. "Greeks are a very sneaky people."

The government's new rules intend to change that. Last week it
announced new measures to encourage those who have transferred money
out of Greece to bring it back within six months, no questions asked.
They'll be taxed 5% on the total, however. Another option offered:
declare the money, leave it in foreign accounts -- and be subject to
an 8% tax. After that, foreign governments will cooperate with Greek
tax authorities to pursue lawbreakers, says a source in the finance
ministry.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou hopes the government's
new measures will produce results. "As the reform program unfolds, a
lot of this lost, or quasi-lost, liquidity will come back to the
system," he said in a mid-January interview. "It is an immediate
concern, of course, but it is reversible."

Maybe it is, but according to economists, money that leaves a country
rarely returns. "I'm not holding my breath," says Global Financial
Integrity's Kar. "Once [cash] leaves, it's hard to get it back."

The snag in Greece's salary solution
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/04/news/international/greece_pay.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2010030403

Is your country the next Greece?
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/08/news/international/next_greece.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2010030815

Greeks try to remember how to cut back
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/26/news/international/greece_debt_crisis.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2010030109

http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/09/news/international/greece_money.fortune/?section=magazines_fortune

Tax hikes may still fail to fix Athen's debts crisis
Wednesday March 10 2010

GREEK tax increases, which have sparked widespread protests, may fail
to generate as much additional revenue as the government in Athens
estimates, a draft EU report says.

While the €4.8bn of additional austerity measures enacted by the Greek
parliament last week "appear sufficient to safeguard the 2010
budgetary targets", risks remain that increases in value-added tax and
fuel taxes may generate less than is projected, the report says.

The Greek government plans to cut the deficit to 8.7pc of gross
domestic product (GDP) this year from 12.7pc in 2009. The draft report
will be discussed by EU finance ministers in Brussels next week.

Demand

An increase in the main VAT rate by 2pc from 19pc will bring in €1.3bn
in added revenue this year, while higher excise duties on petrol and
diesel are expected to generate €450m more, according to the finance
ministry in Athens.

But "the implications on tax revenue of a contraction in demand should
not be underestimated", according to the European Commission.

On VAT, it said "changes in the tax base -- in relation to the
contraction of internal demand -- and tax evasion may result to lower-
than-expected gains".

Greece's overall government debt "remains on a steep upward path",
according to the commission. Greek debt is projected to swell to 125pc
of GDP this year, the highest in the 27-nation EU, it forecasts.

EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said yesterday
that the latest measures put Greece on "the path of fiscal adjustment
for 2012" -- the deadline to meet the EU's 3pc deficit limit.
(Bloomberg)

Irish Independent

http://www.independent.ie/business/european/tax-hikes-may-still-fail-to-fix-athens-debts-crisis-2093413.html

S&P expert: Integrated eurozone fiscal policy key to sovereign debt
crisis

English.news.cn 2010-03-09 18:32:11

by Xinhua writer Wang Zongkai

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Integrated fiscal policy was essential
for the euro zone to get out of the consequences of Greek sovereign
debt crisis, according to an expert from Standard and Poor's (S&P).

"The Greek debt crisis can be the strongest challenge that the euro
zone has faced in the past 11 years, and the key to solve the problem
is whether eurozone-16 can sacrifice some of their fiscal
sovereignty," said David Beers, managing director of S&P sovereign and
international public finance ratings group, on Monday.

On Dec. 8, 2009, Fitch Ratings downgraded its rating on Greece
sovereign credit from A- to BBB+, and revised its outlook to negative,
which signaled the commence of Greece sovereign credit crisis.

Moreover, other eurozone members, including Portugal, Ireland, Italy
and Spain, also reported deficit problem recently. In a context of
weak recovery in European economies, some analysts said that the Greek
debt crisis might contaminate the whole Europe.

However, Beers believes that the Greek debt crisis will not cause a
new round of global crisis.

On the one hand, other eurozone members welcomed Greece's 4.8-billion-
euro (6.53-billion-U.S. dollar) austerity package, which has shown the
Greek government's willingness to submit some fiscal sovereignty to
the union for underpinning euros, he said.

On the other hand, the creditworthiness of all eurozone sovereign
states was currently at least adequate to meet their financial
commitments, and S&P did not assume any sovereign state leaving the
euro zone in the medium term, Beers added.

So far, the Greek debt crisis had been contained within the euro zone.
Meanwhile, the Greek government had actively taken measures, while the
euro zone was considering institutional reform such as the
establishment of a European Monetary Fund, which will function like
the International Monetary Fund.

Regarding Britain's estimates of its deficit in 2010 fiscal year to
amount 1.78 trillion pounds (2.67 trillion dollars), nearly 13 percent
of its gross domestic product, Beers said Britain's current fiscal
policy is sustainable.

"If party in office changed, S&P would keep a close look at deficit-
cutting measures of the new administration," he added.

Meanwhile, the other two largest economies in the world are also
facing the deficit problem. U.S. federal deficit in 2009 had amounted
to 1.41 trillion dollars, almost 10 percent of the GDP while Japan's
outstanding public debt reached a record high of 817.5 trillion yen (9
trillion dollars), and 6.83 million yen (7,560 dollars) per capita.

Nevertheless, Beers was more optimistic on U.S. and Japan thanks to
more flexibility and time in dealing with debt problem given that the
dollar and the yen are the two strongest reserve currencies right now.

Beers estimated that it would take one or two years to solve the Greek
debt crisis.

People in Greece and other eurozone countries need to have confidence
while their governments need action.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Related News

• Greece prefers European solution: PM
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/08/c_13201036.htm

• Protests against fiscal austerity measures in Greece
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2010-03/06/c_13199746.htm

• Germany will not give Greece a cent: economy minister
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/05/c_13199043.htm

• Greek families to lose one-month salary yearly due to tax rise
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2010-03/09/c_13203264.htm

• Greek PM calls on world to restrict speculative trading
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/09/c_13202576.htm

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-03/09/c_13203821.htm

Chrysanthemum or Samurai?
Posted By Dan Twining Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 12:20 PM

In a thoughtful essay in today's Financial Times, Gideon Rachman asks
whether Japan may now be tilting towards China after 60 years of
aligning itself with the United States. This question is interesting
on multiple dimensions -- including with regard to the future of U.S.
primacy in Asia, the impact of China's rise on its neighbors, the
nature of Japanese politics and identity, and our understanding of the
deep structure of international relations at a time of systemic power
shifts. Indeed, Japan is a critical case study for assessing how the
developed world will respond to the rise of dynamic new power centers
in Asia -- and what the implications will be for American leadership
in the international system.

The ascent of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) after nearly six
decades of unbroken rule by the conservative, U.S.-oriented Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) has convulsed not only Japanese politics but
also its foreign policy. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has mused
about constructing a pan-Asian fraternal community based on
"solidarity" -- not with Tokyo's closest alliance partner across the
Pacific but with its near neighbors, led by China. What should have
been little more than a tactical skirmish about the terms of the
realignment of U.S. forces in Okinawa has become, through
mismanagement on both sides, a strategic headache for both Washington
and the inexperienced government in Tokyo, raising unnecessary
tensions within the alliance. DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, the power
behind the throne of the Hatoyama administration, recently led a
delegation of 143 parliamentarians and hundreds of businessmen to
Beijing, reviving in form if not substance the tributary delegations
from China's neighbors that, in pre-modern times, ritually visited the
Chinese court to acknowledge its suzerainty as Asia's "Middle
Kingdom."

These and other moves, unthinkable during the Cold War heyday of the
U.S.-Japan alliance, suggest a striking shift in Japan's geopolitical
alignment as the Pacific century dawns. Despite the fact that Japan
was never part of "the Chinese world order" in traditional Asia, some
analysts believe a Japanese tilt toward a resurgent China would be in
keeping with the country's foreign policy traditions. As Gideon
writes:

Some western observers in Tokyo muse that perhaps Japan is once again
following its historic policy of adapting to shifts in global politics
by aligning itself with great powers. Before the first world war the
country had a special relationship with Britain. In the inter-war
period Japan allied itself with Germany. Since 1945, it has stuck
closely to America. Perhaps the ground is being prepared for a new
"special relationship" with China?

In this reading of Japanese history since the Meiji restoration, the
country has repeatedly aligned itself with the international system's
preeminent power -- Britain in the early 20th century, Nazi Germany
until 1945, and the United States since then. If Japan really is
edging away from the United States to align itself with China today,
that is a compelling indicator that the future belongs to Beijing, and
that America's best days as the world's indispensable nation are
behind it.

Yet this judgment is, if anything, premature -- and may simply be
wrong. Imperial Britain, Nazi Germany, and America during the Cold War
were actual or aspiring hegemons from outside Asia; Japan's alliance
with each of them cemented its own role as Asia's dominant power.
Japan was not aligning with each of these powers to bandwagon with
them, subordinating its power and interests to theirs. It allied with
these Western states to facilitate its own pursuit of national power
and leadership in Asia.

This is true even of Japan's Cold War alliance with the United States,
when post-war leaders in Tokyo pursued a conscious strategy of
developing Japan's economic and technological dynamism within the
cocoon of American military protection. In a systematic and self-
interested manner, these leaders took advantage of the security
umbrella provided by the United States to modernize Japan's economy
and build strength with an eye on a long-term objective of moving
beyond the constraints imposed by the U.S. alliance as Japan grew into
a leading economic and technological power. The DPJ's new independence
vis-à-vis Washington reflects this evolution, and the only surprise is
that more Japan hands in the West didn't see it coming.

Historically, Japan has shown a striking ability to rapidly transform
itself in response to international conditions, as seen in the Meiji
break from isolation, the rise to great power in the twentieth
century, the descent into militarism, and renewal as a dynamic trading
state. Only a few years ago, excellent books and articles with titles
like Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose,
Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia,
and "Japan is Back: Why Tokyo's New Assertiveness is Good for
Washington" framed the country as a resurgent Asian great power. Since
2001, successive Japanese prime ministers have articulated
unprecedented ambitions for Japanese grand strategy. These have
included casting Japan as the "thought leader of Asia," forging new
bilateral alliances with India and Australia, cooperating with these
and other democratic powers in an "Arc of Freedom and Prosperity,"
formalizing security cooperation with NATO, constructing a Pacific
community around an "inland sea" centered on Japan as the hub of the
international economic and political order, and building a new East
Asian community with Japan at its center. These developments reflect
the churning domestic debate in Japan about its future as a world
power and model for its region, trends catalyzed by China's explosive
rise.

Japan's strategic future remains uncertain in light of the country's
churning domestic politics and troubling economic and demographic
trends. Yet there is no question that military modernization in China
and North Korea has spurred a new Japanese search for security and
identity that has moved Tokyo decisively beyond the constraints that
structured its foreign policy for fifty years following defeat in the
Pacific war. The ascent of the DPJ, with its calls for a more equal
U.S.-Japan alliance and greater Japanese autonomy in security and
diplomacy, is another step forward in Japan's transformation into what
DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa famously called a "normal country." Enjoying a
normal relationship with China, as the DPJ intends to do, is part of
that process. But so will be a continuing partnership with the United
States.

Jason Lee-Pool/Getty Images

http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/09/chrysanthemum_or_samurai

JGB futures edge down from 2-mth high as Nikkei jumps
By Rika Otsuka

TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond futures slipped
further on Monday from a two-month peak hit last week, as growing
optimism about a global economic recovery prompted investors to move
money to stocks from government debt.

The five-year/20-year JGB yield spread matched its highest since
November 1999 as prospects of further central bank easing pinned down
yields on midterm maturities, which are more sensitive to shifts in
monetary policy outlook.

U.S. monthly employment data showed late last week that the world's
biggest economy lost 36,000 jobs in February, less than the 50,000 job
cuts expected by economists. [ID:nN04252324]

But bond losses were limited as the JGB market received support from
speculation that the Bank of Japan would further ease its monetary
policy in the coming months to help Japan's economy move out of
deflation.

"The rise in bond yields has been small as investors are willing to
pick up JGBs, with some speculating the BOJ could further relax its
policy at next week's board meeting," said Hidenori Suezawa, chief
strategist at Nikko Cordial Securities.

JGBs rose on Friday after the Nikkei newspaper said the central bank
will debate whether to ease monetary policy further by expanding the
fund-supply operation it introduced in December, under which it
extends loans to commercial banks at a policy rate of 0.1 percent.
[ID:nTOE6230A7]

"Demand is also strong as a large amount of government debt is
maturing this month," said Suezawa at Nikko Cordial Securities.

Analysts said some 10 trillion yen ($110.8 billion) of JGBs are being
redeemed in March. Government bonds with maturities of five years or
longer will mature in March, June, September and December.

Large amount of bonds maturing means that durations of popularly
followed bond indexes are usually extended to accommodate the
redemptions, generating demand for longer-dated paper from investors
following monthly changes to these indexes.

A 30-year JGB auction scheduled for Tuesday is expected to draw decent
demand as dealers will be looking to replenish their inventories, said
Makoto Noji, a senior market analyst at Mizuho Securities.

"Demand for superlong paper was unusually strong toward the end of
last month as investors bought to match bond indexes, depleting
dealers' inventories."

March 10-year JGB futures edged down 0.07 point to 140.12 2JGBv1,
slipping from 140.27, their highest since late December.

Outstanding loans held by Japanese banks fell 1.5 percent in February
from a year earlier, matching a decline in January that was the
biggest annual drop in four years, the BOJ said on Monday. [JPBNK=ECI]
[ID:nTFD006326]

The market showed a muted reaction to the data, although it somewhat
strengthened expectations that sluggish lending would prompt banks to
add more JGBs to their portfolios with the new financial year starting
on April 1.

The combination of sluggish lending and expectations towards further
BOJ easing has helped JGBs, especially the shorter-dated maturities,
which are supported by purchases from banks.

The five-year/20-year yield spread stood at 167 basis points on
Monday, matching its steepest in a decade, according to historical
data on Reuters EcoWin.

The five-year yield stood unchanged at 0.470 percent on Monday after
banks, the main players in the mid-term sector, aggressively bought
five-year notes late last week to push down the yield to a two-month
low of 0.460 percent JP5YTN=JBTC.

The benchmark 10-year yield inched up 1 basis point to 1.315 percent
JP10YTN=JBTC, staying near a two-month low of 1.290 percent first
reached in late February.

The 20-year yield was up 1.5 basis points at 2.140 percent
JP20YTN=JBTC and the 30-year yield edged up 0.5 basis point to 2.325
percent JP30YTN=JBTC.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average .N225 jumped 2.1 percent after the U.S.
jobs data, with exporters benefiting from a weaker yen. [.T] [FRX/]
($1=90.28 Yen)

(Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Joseph
Radford)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62703620100308

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62103Z20100302?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r1:c1.000000:b31604150:z0

March 8, 2010, 1:03 a.m. EST · Recommend · Post:

WORLD FOREX: Dollar At 2-Week High Vs Yen On Asia Stock RisesStory
By Takashi Mochizuki

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar rose to a two-week-high against the
yen Monday in Asia, as higher regional shares bolstered investors'
appetite for riskier, higher-yielding assets, and they dumped the safe-
haven Japanese unit for the U.S. currency.

The greenback rose as high as Y90.69, its highest since Feb. 23 as
Asian investors took cues from Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock
Average and China's Shanghai Composite Index.

As of 0450 GMT, the Nikkei was up 1.9% to 10,563.72 and the Shanghai
Composite was up 0.82% to 3,056.00.

Higher Asian share prices often push the yen lower, as Japanese
investors become more aggressive about investing in overseas assets
with higher yields.

The yen's decline, however, isn't likely to continue for long because
Japanese exporters still have a vigorous appetite for yen, analysts
said. Exporters need a hefty volume of yen ahead of the March 31
fiscal year-end when they close their books.

"We would caution against turning very bearish (about the yen) in the
short term," said Adarsh Sinha, a strategist at Barclays Capital.

There is also a risk that demand for yen will increase again if
upcoming U.S. economic data, such as Friday's retail sales, turn out
weaker than expected, analysts said.

"Markets need to wait for more data to assess the true trend of the
U.S. economy," said Tomoko Fujii, a strategist at Bank of America-
Merrill Lynch.

The U.S. government said Friday that non-farm payrolls decreased by
36,000 in February from the month before. This was much better than
the 75,000 decline economists had expected.

But Fujii said it was "premature to draw a conclusion" about the U.S.
economic outlook, as recent U.S. economic reports have contained some
negative surprises.

As of 0450 GMT, the dollar was at Y90.41 from Y90.33 Friday in New
York. The euro was at $1.3679 from $1.3620 and Y123.70 from Y123.04.

The euro may have entered a long-term upward trend, dealers said, on
the belief debt-laden Greece will be able to secure support from its
European partners.

"I'm now becoming certain that Greece won't fail. The clouds are
clearing for Greece's future," said Jun Kato, a senior dealer at
Shinkin Central Bank.

On Sunday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a number of European
Union nations were preparing a support package for Greece. In Berlin,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that E.U. members would
intervene to rescue Greece if its debt problems threaten to spiral out
of control.

The euro may rise above $1.38 in the days ahead if more positive news
for Greece comes out, OCBC Bank's currency research team said. The
currency last traded above $1.38 on Feb. 11.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-
weighted basket of currencies, was at 80.168 from 80.451

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/world-forex-dollar-at-2-week-high-vs-yen-on-asia-stock-rises-2010-03-08

...and I am Sid Harth

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thread/thread/3bc67593a8a0ac5b#

[chhotemianinshallah]

Rasmussen: 57% think ObamaCare will damage economy
posted at 12:52 pm on March 9, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

The White House promised a “hard pivot” to jobs and the economy almost
three months ago, attempting to put the ObamaCare debate on the back
burner after the holidays. They had belatedly discovered that the
electorate was much more concerned about the economic plunge than in
retooling a health-care system that works for most Americans now.
Instead of the hard pivot, Democrats have doubled down on ObamaCare —
and the latest Rasmussen survey shows that a strong majority believe
it to be the wrong direction on both issues:

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters say the health care reform plan
now working its way through Congress will hurt the U.S. economy.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 25%
think the plan will help the economy. But only seven percent (7%) say
it will have no impact. Twelve percent (12%) aren’t sure.

Two-out-of-three voters (66%) also believe the health care plan
proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats is likely to
increase the federal deficit. That’s up six points from late November
and comparable to findings just after the contentious August
congressional recess. Ten percent (10%) say the plan is more likely to
reduce the deficit and 14% say it will have no impact on the deficit.

Underlying this concern is a lack of trust in the government numbers.
Eighty-one percent (81%) believe it is at least somewhat likely that
the health care reform plan will cost more than official estimates.
That number includes 66% who say it is very likely that the official
projections understate the true cost of the plan.
Only a plurality of Democrats believe that the bill will help the
economy (43%), while 89% of Republicans and 61% of independents think
it will damage it.
Politically, the Democrats have the worst of all worlds. Not only do
they look out of touch for spending all of their efforts on a plan
that is deeply unpopular with voters, they now are seen as actively
damaging the economy. The deficit spending alone would be enough to
send voters heading for the exits, but the increased costs are even
worse. Seventy-eight percent of all respondents believe that middle-
class tax increases will come as a result of ObamaCare, with almost
two-thirds (65%) believing that to be “very likely.” Fifty-eight
percent of Democrats expect middle-class tax increases, which shows
how effective Obama has been in selling this plan.
What’s the biggest problem with ObamaCare? Majorities of all
political affiliations agree: the cost. Hardly anyone believes the
cost estimates. When asked whether the bill would exceed its cost
estimates, 93% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats, and 80% of
independents thought it at least somewhat likely — with 88% of
Republicans and 73% of independents calling it “very likely.” Only
20% of Democrats thought it unlikely. Again, this looks like a big
failure of the Obama administration’s efforts to sell the package as a
cost containment program.
Democrats now face the prospect of using arcane parliamentary tricks
to pass a bill that has minimal support, one that most voters believe
will damage the economy, cost more than advertised, and prompt
sweeping tax increases, all while ignoring the issues of a damaged
economy while attempting to make it worse. If they think that’s a
winning strategy for the midterms, they need new leadership — and
after the electoral disaster coming, they’ll probably be forced to get
it.

BlowbackNote from Hot Air management: This section is for comments
from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume
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Comments

and lo, the Democrat party wandered aimlessly in the desert for 40
election years.

TN Mom on March 9, 2010 at 4:13 PM

Great pic!

mikeyboss on March 9, 2010 at 4:18 PM

From the rich being able to buy our representatives and lead our
culture by the nose, yes.

Dark-Star on March 9, 2010 at 4:00 PM
Boo hoo, the rich can do things that I can’t, therefore we have to
give govt control over everything so that the rich can be punished.

I’m still trying to figure out why you actually believe that everyone
who has more than you are is evil.

Is it because you are such a failure in life, that you can’t bear to
accept responsibility?

Lord knows, your given your demonstrated intellectual powers, it’s
hard to imagine you’ve ever been able to handle a job that doesn’t
involve the phrase “would you like fries with that”.

MarkTheGreat on March 9, 2010 at 4:25 PM

and lead our culture by the nose, yes.
Ohh, and people pay more attention to the rich than they do you. I bet
that stings.

MarkTheGreat on March 9, 2010 at 4:26 PM

They won’t get new leadership, because Pelosi will be the only one
left in the House after November.

joe_doufu on March 9, 2010 at 5:03 PM

If you believe the 57% figure, then you’ll love the fictitious 9%
unemployment.
This administration is so inaccurate they couldn’t hit the side of a
barn with a tennis racket.

Cybergeezer on March 9, 2010 at 5:23 PM

I’m waiting for Congress to offer shares of stock in the new Health
Care Industry they want to create.
Think China will buy any?

Cybergeezer on March 9, 2010 at 5:25 PM

This HealthScare legislation is another omnibus spending bill that
lets Congress spend like drunken sailors with unlimited credit cards.
Obama has already signed an omnibus spending bill last year, and he
can’t wait to sign another one.

Cybergeezer on March 9, 2010 at 5:30 PM

If we just get enough fed-up conservative-types to move to Costa Rica
we could remake that country into what the U.S. should be. The U.S. is
going to be a once-great nation in record time and I, for one, don’t
feel like being taxed to death as it goes through its all too rapid
fall.

Fatal on March 9, 2010 at 5:31 PM

Adding a new entitlement? revenue neutral? Look at the prescription
drug benefit enacted by President Bush. In less than 10 years the
unfunded liabilities of this new entitlement are nearly 19 trillion
(18.7 and climbing).

Congress:
Look at the debt clock. Health care reform, yes. ObamaCare, NO.

Angry Dumbo on March 9, 2010 at 6:50 PM

Democrats now face the prospect of using arcane parliamentary tricks
to pass a bill that has minimal support, one that most voters believe
will damage the economy, cost more than advertised, and prompt
sweeping tax increases, all while ignoring the issues of a damaged
economy while attempting to make it worse. If they think that’s a
winning strategy for the midterms, they need new leadership — and
after the electoral disaster coming, they’ll probably be forced to get
it.
This isn’t about winning in 2010.
It isn’t about the leadership.

This is about having the most left leaning leadership in Washington
since the early 30’s taking an opportunity to screw the country that
they thought they would never have!

We have a Marxist president who has already says he’d content with one
term if, BY HIS DEFINITION, he was a good president.

We have a Marxist wax statue House Speaker who comes from a district
where the majority probably feel Congress isn’t taking over enough of
the private sector on the way to their communist utopia.

We have an old, doesn’t-care-if-he’s-reelected Senate Leader who
thinks this is the culmination of his life’s work and that of his dead
friend Teddy!

These three jokers are betting that if they can get this passed,
rammed through, crammed down America’s throat, that in the future the
party can run on “Save Healthcare! Keep those filthy Republican hands
off of it!” “Oh, that evil Republican wants to repeal healthcare and
kill millions by taking away their coverage!”

Unfortunately, the chaos that’s going to ensue, sooner if they pass
healthcare, after we reach banana republic status in the next year,
could lead to numerous conclusions. It may be best if it leads to two
or more countries if this is the government we’re stuck with.

PastorJon on March 9, 2010 at 8:02 PM

Fifty-eight percent of Democrats expect middle-class tax increases,
which shows how effective Obama has been in selling this plan.
Whadda ya know! The Dems are as dumb as the Repubs.

Herb on March 9, 2010 at 8:36

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/09/rasmussen-57-think-obamacare-will-damage-economy/

NYC’s New Suicide Sculptures (metaphor for economic reality)

Posted by barrypopik (Profile)

Wednesday, March 10th at 5:24AM EST

No Comments
New York is full of brilliant ideas these days. Let’s look first at
the suicide sculpture metaphor, then the economic reality.

From Wednesday’s New York Times:

Statues Seem Ready to Leap, but Police Say They Won’t
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: March 9, 2010
They stand about six feet tall and look like naked human beings. Over
the next few days, 27 of them will be scattered across rooftops and
ledges of buildings in Midtown Manhattan — including the Empire State
Building — as part of a public art exhibition.

About the same time that the first figure was placed atop a four-story
building at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue on Tuesday, the Police
Department issued a statement reassuring New Yorkers that the figures
are not despondent people on the verge of leaping to their deaths.

Police officials said they were trying to prevent an overwhelming
number of emergency calls from concerned pedestrians or office
workers. Nevertheless, they said that all emergency calls about a
potential suicide would be taken seriously — even those from places
where one of the figures is located.

“We are going to respond no matter what because there could be a
jumper at the spot,” said Paul J. Browne, the department’s chief
spokesman.

The figures, which are anatomically correct, are modeled after the
body of the artist Antony Gormley, who created the exhibition, which
is being presented by the Madison Square Park Conservancy.

Gormley did the same thing in London in 2007.

Is anyone surprised that lots of people would call 911? Does anyone
think that clogging the 911 line is a good idea? In a nanny state
government that forbids toy guns, why is this OK? How much did this
guy earn for this “art”?

Stupidity all around, but that’s not surprising for New York.

Moving on to suicidal economic news, the New York Times loves the
proposed soda tax:

Editorial
Healthy Solution: Taxing Sodas
Published: March 8, 2010
Seldom does one idea help fix two important problems, but a proposal
to tax sugary soft drinks in New York State is just that sort of 2-
for-1 solution. The penny-per-ounce tax on sodas and other sweetened
drinks is a way to raise desperately needed money for the city and
state in a bad economy. It also could help lower obesity rates, which
have soared in recent years.

The Legislature in Albany should adopt this tax quickly.

Increasing New York taxes to support outrageously generous public
union pensions — bless your hearts, New York Times and Mayor
Bloomberg.

What is the other solution to New York’s fiscal crisis? Billions in
increased borrowing, of course:

Paterson’s No. 2 Sets Broad Plan on New York Fiscal Crisis
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: March 9, 2010
ALBANY — New York could borrow billions of dollars to address its
urgent budget shortfall and a financial review board would be
established to impose new discipline on future spending under a five-
year financial rescue plan that Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch will present
Wednesday.
(…)
Mr. Ravitch, who was asked by Gov. David A. Paterson to draw up the
blueprint, is seeking to curb the runaway spending that has helped
plunge New York into fiscal crisis. Despite the recession and talk of
fiscal austerity, state spending this year soared by 10 percent over
the previous year’s budget.

Keep on spending!

The state faces a $9 billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins
April 1 and a $15 billion gap for the following year.

The plan, which requires legislative approval, seeks to address New
York’s immediate cash needs by permitting the state to sell bonds to
help cover operating expenses.

Keep on borrowing! Does anyone want to buy a bond from a bankrupt
state run by David Paterson?

If the Madison Square Park Conservancy wants to add some art, why not
ditch the suicide sculptures and have a replica of the Diana sculpture
that once graced Madison Square Garden? The Roman goddess Diana was an
emblem of chastity.

Suicide sculpture — an urban metaphor for these times? Why not move
them from Madison Square down to Wall Street?

http://www.redstate.com/barrypopik/2010/03/10/nycs-new-suicide-sculptures-metaphor-for-economic-reality/

Economists trim 2011 U.S. growth forecast
Posted 2010/03/10 at 12:40 am EST

WASHINGTON, Mar. 10, 2010 (Reuters) — U.S. economists raised their
forecast for economic growth in 2010 in March, the third straight
monthly rise, while trimming their growth forecast for 2011, according
to a survey released on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed earlier this month in the Blue Chip Economic
Indicators newsletter said the economy is expected to grow by 3.0
percent in 2011, which is 0.1 percentage point lower than estimates
made a month ago.

But economists raised their 2010 growth forecast for the third
consecutive month to 3.1 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from
February.

Still, the economists predicted the recovery would be mild given the
depth of the recession.

The consensus also expects inventories to continue adding to GDP over
the next several quarters but see the size of those contributions
become increasingly smaller.

"By Q1 2011, the contribution to GDP from business inventories is
expected to become trivial," the survey said.

The panelists said they also expect "a slower and less powerful than
is typical improvement in labor market conditions that will cap gains
in disposable personal income and personal consumption expenditures."

The panelists expressed concern that severe winter weather crimped
economic activity in February and that upcoming monthly data on
production, retail sales, housing starts and home sales could fall
short of earlier consensus expectations.

However, they also pointed out any weather-induced softness should be
recovered in the March data.

(Reporting by Nancy Waitz, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Copyright Reuters 2008.

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre6290q0-us-usa-economy-bluechip/

US Chamber of Commerce getting into the game.

I almost titled this "US Chamber of Commerce starts recognizing its
class interests," but that kind of language bugs people on the Right,
for some reason.
Posted by Moe Lane (Profile)

Tuesday, March 9th at 11:48AM EST

5 Comments

Say hello to the US Chamber of Commerce. Or don’t; they’re coming to
sit down at the table any which way.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is building a large-scale grass-roots
political operation that has begun to rival those of the major
political parties, funded by record-setting amounts of money raised
from corporations and wealthy individuals.

[snip]

The new grass-roots program, the brainchild of chamber political
director Bill Miller, is concentrating on 22 states. Among them are
Colorado, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet is
vulnerable; Arkansas, where Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln faces an
uphill reelection battle; and Ohio, where the chamber sees
opportunities in numerous House races and an open Senate seat.

The network, called Friends of the U.S. Chamber, has been used to
generate more than a million letters and e-mails to members of
Congress, 700,000 of them in opposition to the Democratic healthcare
plan. That is an increase from 40,000 congressional contacts generated
in 2008.

The article goes on to note that the CoC’s grassroots planning
recently got a big boost from the recent Citizens’ United case, as
well as that this organization is increasingly publicly acknowledging
that ‘pro-business growth’ means ‘pro-Republican.’ And why would that
be? Probably because of Democratic assaults like this one:

A Democratic aide says a new provision in the health care bill will
require businesses to count part-time workers when calculating
penalties for failing to provide coverage.

Via Hot Air, and that particular sudden addition to the health care
bill should have the same effect on small business growth as would,
say, a load of buckshot to the face. Remember, folks: the current
ruling party of this country is largely led by people who have never
worked for a living in their lives - and by God, does it show
sometimes! Keep this in mind when opening your checkbooks, because
the business community certainly plans to…

Moe Lane

5 Comments

*HOW* can they do this? How is it Constitutional?
yoyo Tuesday, March 9th at 12:16PM EST

Isn’t the Senate Bill ALREADY voted for? How can they insert an
amendment into a bill that is already passed?

Wouldnt the inclusion of this amendment (or any other) require that
the whole she-bang go back to the Senate for another up/down vote? Or
at the very least, allow the Senate to Amend this to Death - FINALLY?

Without coming back to the Senate, the Bill would be unconstitutional,
yes?

Just Checking. Dan, can you help me out here? Rule check, please!

Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum
‘If you seek peace, prepare for war!’

The ‘yoyo’ replaced my cigarettes January 22, 2006….

http://www.twitter.com/rs_yoyo

That's what "reconcilliation" is all about.
The_Gadfly Tuesday, March 9th at 12:25PM EST

See, this is a cost cutting measure. Without it, they won’t have
enough money to cover the bills, so the reconcilliation rules apply,
and they only need 51 votes for that.

No, I don’t really believe that either, but you can better a year’s
salary that’s how they’ll sell it. Assuming of course you can find
someone dumb enough to take the wager.

We’ve been called racists enough now that it shouldn’t bother us any
more.

-AChance, http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2009/11/03/what-men-may-do-we-have-done/#comment-24463

If NY23 was a beat down for Conservatives, what do you call what
happened to Progressives in NJ and VA?

inspired by ColdWarrior,
http://www.redstate.com/hooah_mac/2009/11/04/ny-23-the-agony-of-defeat-not-so-much/#comment-156

"Cost Cutting?" Really? Smells of "Policy" to me.
yoyo Tuesday, March 9th at 12:33PM EST

But, I *do* have a head cold, so my sniffer may be broken.

OR, more likely, it just stinks.

I say they should start reconcilling the bill with the Constitution
and go forward from there.

But, I AM a little bit “old fashioned.” *Tradition and Patriotism* and
all that.

Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum
‘If you seek peace, prepare for war!’

Pukin’ Dogs - The Fighting 143
Sans Reproache

The ‘yoyo’ replaced my cigarettes January 22, 2006….

http://www.twitter.com/rs_yoyo

George Washington
hickorystick Tuesday, March 9th at 1:32PM EST

led the Rebellion, because England was infringing upon his interests.
George Washington wasn’t that political a guy. He did maintain his
‘interest’ very sharply. He was one of the wealthiest Colonials, and
he was constantly irritated with England imposing laws and
restrictions impinging on his ‘interest’. He chose his wife, Mary, not
for her looks, but because she had a lot of land. I get so frustrated
with politics because most of the time, especially media time, is
spent talking about nebulous things which we have no power or control
over. We would do well to frame every bill in terms of how it affects
‘interests’. You cannot walk into court and ask for something, unless
you can prove an ‘interest’ or ’standing’. We should do the same in
our political fights, sticking to our right to maintain property. That
is what we fought over in the revolution. Remember, we didn’t bother
to write a Constitution till some years after we had won the war. The
form of government that came most naturally after the victory, was a
Continental Congress. This form left most issues to the states, where
property could best be protected. If we want to effectively fight this
Redistibutor-in-Chief, We better start focusing on our own interest
and that of our states.

Wow...
tdpwells Tuesday, March 9th at 3:09PM EST

So let’s see, that’s most employees at fast food restaurants, grocery
stores, convenience stores, corner pharmacy stores like CVS and
Walgreens, etc etc etc…

Unemployment ought to be at a healthy 30% by the time they’re done.
Nice.

I do not believe that the power and duty of the General
Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual
suffering which is in no manner properly related to the
public service or benefit…to the end that the lesson should
be constantly enforced that though the people support the
Government, the Government should not support the people.
Grover Cleveland (16 February 1887)

http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2010/03/09/us-chamber-of-commerce-getting-into-the-game/

Bloomberg

Siegel Says U.S. Recovery Certain, Euro Region Faces Splinter
March 10, 2010, 5:39 AM EST
By Le-Min Lim

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Jeremy Siegel, a finance professor at the
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, says the worst is over
for the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates
by year’s end to cool growth.

Spending by companies on equipment and plants will outpace private
consumption as the main growth driver this year, he said in an
interview in Hong Kong. The jobless rate, at 9.7 percent last month,
will fall below 9 percent by the end of 2010, he said. That may force
the Fed to tighten policy and full-year economic growth may reach 4
percent, he said.

The Fed “will feel comfortable raising the rates as long as the
situation continues to improve, as I believe it will,” said Siegel, in
an interview in Hong Kong. Siegel, 64, is an adviser to U.S.-based
WisdomTree Investments Inc., which had $6.7 billion of assets under
management as of the end of last year.

The Fed and the Treasury are trying to withdraw the emergency measures
introduced during the financial crisis without triggering a relapse in
the economy. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Feb. 24 the U.S. is in
a “nascent” recovery that still requires keeping interest rates near
zero “for an extended period” to spur demand once stimulus wanes.

In Europe, the European Central Bank will have little alternative
other than to keep interest rates low as euro region members such as
Greece struggle to convince investors they will cut soaring budget
deficits, he said. Its benchmark rate is currently at a record low of
1 percent.

Exports

The euro is making the exports of nations such as Spain and Greece so
uncompetitive that they may start talks as early as next year to leave
the 16-nation bloc, he said. That departure would be “painful and
difficult and drag down the region for a few years,” he said. One
weakness of the currency union is that it lacks a proper and orderly
exit strategy for members that can’t keep up, Siegel said.

“They should have signed prenups before they got married to the euro,”
said Siegel, referring to agreements that outline the terms of a
divorce.

A U.S. recovery and uncertainty in the eurozone mean the dollar will
remain a “viable” asset, said Siegel.

Later this year, China may start a managed appreciation of the yuan,
Siegel said. China wants to revert to export-driven economic growth,
so is more likely to try a staggered revaluation than a major, one-
time adjustment, he said.

--Editors: Dirk Beveridge, John Fraher

To contact the reporter on this story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at
***@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Beech at
***@bloomberg.net.

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High Conviction: Short the Yen
by: Alexander Tepper March 10, 2010

Alexander Tepper is Chief Economist at TKNG Capital, a global macro
hedge fund based in New York. Previously, Mr. Tepper was a senior
economic policy aide to U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg. He also has
experience at Oliver, Wyman & Company advising Fortune 500 financial
institutions on risk management and as an investment banking Associate
at Credit Suisse. He has a masters degree in Economics from Oxford
University, and a BA in Physics from Princeton University.

We recently had the opportunity to ask Alexander about the single
highest conviction position he currently holds in his fund.

What is your highest conviction position in your fund right now - long
or short?

We are short Japanese yen against the US Dollar. We have implemented
the trade by selling out-of-the-money calls to buy out-of-the-money
puts and taking in premium.

Why did you use options to structure the trade?

Call options on the yen are significantly more expensive than put
options. This “skew,” as it’s known, exists because the Japanese
investment community tends to be short yen, making it susceptible to
sharp rises during bouts of risk aversion.

Investors hedge this exposure by buying out-of-the-money yen calls.
But given the sharp adjustment that has already occurred in the crisis
and a government whose proclivities are far from fiscally
conservative, we view the risks as less asymmetric than implied by the
skew.

Structuring this trade with options is akin to playing with dice
loaded in our favor.

Tell us a bit about Japan right now, and why you're short its
currency.

Japan has traditionally been an export-oriented economy, but that’s
going to change as the population continues to age and retire. These
older citizens, who have saved their whole lives and are no longer
producing anything, will be a natural source of demand, first for
domestic Japanese goods and then for imports. A shrinking labor force
will mean other nations will need to pick up the slack in production.
Already, the savings rate in Japan has fallen into the low single-
digits and it should fall further.

Japan is also in serious fiscal trouble. Its net debt is more than
100% of GDP, and gross debt is nearing 200% of GDP. The Japanese
government and central bank do not seem particularly concerned. It is
only Japan’s strong balance of payments position, and a willful
suspension of disbelief by the markets, that differentiates it from
countries like Greece. But those, too, should ebb over time.

So why will the yen fall?

First, as the Japanese retire, the supply shock to the economy will
result in continuing declines in competitiveness. The yen will need to
fall to restore balance.

Second, less income and more retirees will mean that Japan will need
to fund more of its government’s borrowing from abroad. Making this
attractive will mean a lower exchange rate, higher interest rate, or
(most likely) both.

Third, the government’s fiscal position is the worst in the developed
world. The scale of the adjustments that are necessary to stabilize
the budget deficit would be unprecedented in a large developed nation,
requiring deep cuts to pensions, double-digit tax increases, and
severe spending restraint elsewhere. If sovereign worries persist,
Japan and its currency are obvious targets for speculators.

Finally, we think consumers in the US and UK are undergoing a lasting
shift in psychology that will cause them to save a larger share of
their incomes going forward. Over the long-term, the savings rate
needs to average around 10% in order for Americans to secure a
reasonable retirement. When Americans save more, they buy less,
especially imports. This lack of demand for imports means a stronger
dollar against US trading partners like Japan.

All this is on the assumption that the global economy will limp along
for a while. But if instead we have a return to robust growth that
looks broadly like the pre-crisis economy, the yen should weaken
towards 2007 levels as markets become more and more comfortable with
risk and interest rates rise in the rest of the developed world.

There are a lot of ways to win with this trade.

What would you say the current broad sentiment is on the yen?

The market has tended to view the yen as part of the “risk-on/risk-
off” trade, where the yen rises with worries about the global economy.
Japan’s fiscal issues are well-known, but the market has generally not
priced them, with yields on 10-year Japanese bonds below 1.5%.
Japanese CDS spreads, however, have doubled since late summer.

More broadly, the markets have believed that correction of global
imbalances requires a weaker dollar to encourage Americans and Asians
to change their consumption behavior. We think the financial crisis
and experience of house price declines will be the driving force that
restrains Americans’ profligacy, while Asians will consume more. The
result will be a stronger dollar.

Does Japanese economic policy play a role in your position?

The Japanese government has made fairly clear that it does not intend
to tolerate a markedly stronger yen because it hurts their exporters.
It also seems neither inclined nor able to do anything about the
fiscal situation in the near future.

What catalysts do you see that could move the currency, and the trade
in your favor?

The eurozone’s sovereign risk worries will soon resolve themselves one
way or another. When they do, Japan could easily become a target.

As economic data continue to strengthen over the next few months, a
return to normalcy will mean a weaker yen.

We are also prepared for a more gradual adjustment as markets adopt
our demographic view.

What could go wrong with this trade?

In the near term, Japanese companies repatriating income around the
fiscal year-end in March could potentially lead to a rise in the
currency. A sharp rise in risk aversion could have a similar effect.
We have been careful to choose the strike prices on our options to
minimize the damage if such a spike does occur.

Beyond that, deflation in Japan means that in a perfect economic
world, the yen would appreciate over time. There is also the risk that
the pundits over the past several years prove right and we see
fundamental weakening of the dollar with respect to all Asian
currencies.

Finally, if China were to revalue its currency, as many believe it
will, that could create space for the Japanese authorities also to
allow some appreciation. Again, however, we believe our options are
sufficiently out of the money to limit our downside in such a
scenario.

Thanks, Alexander.

Disclosure: TKNG Capital is short the Yen against the Dollar.

If you are a fund manager and interested in doing an interview with us
on your highest conviction stock holding, please email Rebecca
Barnett.
About the author: Alexander Tepper Alexander Tepper is Chief
Economist at TKNG Capital, a global macro hedge fund based in New
York. Previously, Mr. Tepper was a senior economic policy aide to U.S.
Senator Frank Lautenberg. He also has experience at Oliver, Wyman &
Company advising Fortune 500 financial institutions on risk... More

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The Coolpix L11 is clearly designed more for the frugal than the
fancy. The 6-megapixel camera sports a 37.5mm-to-112.5mm-equi... 3x
zoom lens and a relatively small 2.4-inch LCD screen. While its
hardware hardly impresses, however, the camera offers some
surprisingly useful features. The L11 includes Nikon's In-Camera Red-
Eye Fix and Face-Priority AF. In-Camera Red-Eye Fix supplements the
camera's red-eye reduction flash mode with a processing system that
removes red-eye after the photo is taken. Face-Priority AF detects and
tracks faces in photos, and adjusts focus to stay on those faces,
instead of just the closest subject. Both features come standard on
most Nikon Coolpix cameras, but are still handy for casual shooting.
www-nikon.com Mar 10 0

Carlos Lam is a deputy prosecuting attorney in a mid-sized county in a
midwestern state. An adherent in the Austrian School of economics, he
believes that to truly prosper as the republic envisioned by the
Founding Fathers, we must return to principles of sound money and
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Shorting the Yen could be an interesting play. Already the Japanese
savings rate has crashed from its lofty position to under 4%, so the
Japanese government will not be able to count on domestic savings to
finance its debt indefinitely.
Mar 10 06:25 AM

John Thomas graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry with
honors and a minor in mathematics from the University of California at
Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.) in 1974. He moved to Tokyo, Japan where he was
employed by a medium-sized Japanese securities house. Thomas became
fluent in... More Company: The Mad Hedge Fund Trader bvgf I’m hearing
from my buddies in Japan that while things are already quite bad in
that enchanting country, they are about to get a whole lot worse, and
that it is time to start scaling into a major short in the yen.
Australia and China have already raised interest rates, to be followed
by the US, and eventually Europe. With its economy enfeebled, the
prospects of Japan raising rates substantially is close to nil,
meaning the yield spread between the yen and other currencies is about
to widen big time. That will generate hundreds of billions of dollars
worth of yen selling as hedge funds rush to pile on a giant carry
trade. Until now, the government has been able to finance ballooning
budget deficits caused by two lost decades, but those days are coming
to an end. Japan is quite literally running out of savers. The savings
rate has dropped from 20% during my time there, to a spendthrift 3%,
because real falling standards of living leave a lot less money for
the piggy bank. The national debt has rocketed to 190% of GDP, and
100% when you net out government agencies buying each other’s
securities. Japan has the world’s worst demographic outlook. Unfunded
pension liabilities are exploding. Other than once great cars and
video games, what does Japan really have to offer the world these
days, but a carry currency? Until now, the government has been able to
cover up these problems with tatami mats, because almost all of the
debt it issued has been sold to domestic institutions. Now that this
pool is drying up, there is nowhere else to go but foreign investors.
With Greece and the rest of the PIIGS at the forefront, and awareness
of sovereign risks heightening, this is going to be a much more
discerning lot to deal with. You could dip your toe in the water here
around ¥88.40. In a perfect world you could sell it as it double tops
at the 85 level. My initial downside target is ¥105, and after that
¥120. If you’re not set up to trade in the futures or the interbank
market like the big hedge funds, then take a look at the leveraged
short yen ETF, the (YCS). This is a home run if you can get in at the
right price.
Mar 10

http://seekingalpha.com/article/192864-high-conviction-short-the-yen

Fresh Trade Winds?
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 02:19
0 Comments and 4 Reactions
Investor's Business Daily
Editorial
Investor's Business Daily
Editorial

http://epaper.investors.com

Economy: U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk came out swinging
Wednesday, warning Congress that it’s time to pass free trade. Is
something happening here? Is the Obama administration finally getting
serious about jobs?

After a year of inaction, Kirk told Democrats in remarks to the Senate
Finance Committee that passage of free-trade pacts must be “a
priority.”

Free trade “will stimulate export-driven growth and help the United
States meet the president’s goal to double U.S. exports in five
years,” he said, adding that 2 million jobs would be created.

That kind of talk from a leading Democrat directed at the
protectionists in his own party is a new — and welcome — development.

Over the last year, Obama administration officials have occasionally
talked up the benefits of free trade, but only with conservatives and
business groups, who already know about it.

Now some are spending political capital to push it.

Confronting a Congress that is holding up the creation of jobs doesn’t
come a moment too soon. U.S. joblessness stands at 9.7% and Europe is
grabbing U.S. markets abroad.

Congressional protectionists talk of free trade passage in terms of
years; their campaign financiers in Big Labor, such as the AFL-CIO,
say “never.”

Kirk rebuked that stance in his speech, telling labor it had a voice
but “not a veto” on trade and hinted that President Obama would put
the pacts through without them. He also gave labor leaders a deadline
to make demands on free-trade deals like the one with Colombia instead
of constantly moving the goal posts.

One shot.

It doesn’t come a moment too soon. Congress’ failure to enact the free-
trade pacts in front of them is costing the U.S. nearly 600,000 jobs,
according to a 2009 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Contrary to
protectionist myth, free trade costs no net jobs in the U.S. economy
at all, as Fed chief Ben Bernanke noted in a 2007 speech citing years
of data. “Trade allows us to enjoy both a more productive economy and
higher living standards,” he said. Unemployment is killing the U.S.
economy and sinking the Obama presidency. Time is running out to open
markets that could help repair it. Just this week, Europe signed a
free-trade deal with Colombia and Peru and breezily announced it would
have a pact with fast-growing India ready by October.

U.S. international credibility right now is zero, given that
alreadynegotiated trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea
have languished in Congress for more than three years.

Who’d want to negotiate something new and have it put in congressional
limbo? That’s why the Obama administration’s proposed U.S. Trans-
Pacific Partnership to open new markets in Brunei, Australia, New
Zealand and Vietnam is going nowhere.

“This delay in implementing hurts U.S. credibility around the world —
not just economically, but geopolitically as well,” said Sen. Charles
Grassley, R-Iowa, at the Kirk hearing. Hello? Anyone out there? The
U.S. is losing ground in world markets and doing it at the cost of our
own citizens’ jobs. It’s exactly what U.S. labor unions such as the
Teamsters, United Steelworkers, United Autoworkers and various public
employee unions want.

And right now, like it or not, they rule Congress. It’s ironic,
because many lobbyists believe free trade can pass both congressional
Houses if the bills are put to a vote. Past presidents, including
Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George W. Bush, knew that’s what
it took to get pacts through Congress. Both threw their all into
getting big treaties — like 1993’s North American Free Trade Agreement
and 2005’s Central American Free Trade Agreement — passed in Congress,
acts that took on people who would stop them to charge up the U.S.
economy. There’s still no sign of Obama out there working the Hill.
But Kirk’s statements, no doubt authorized by the president, may be
the beginning of a turnaround on trade.

http://epaper.investors.com/Olive/ODE/IBD/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=SUJELzIwMTAvMDMvMDU.&pageno=MTA.&entity=QXIwMTAwNA..&view=ZW50aXR5

http://www.truthabouttrade.org/news/latest-news/15680-fresh-trade-winds

A new finger on the pulse of economy

A new index co-developed by Ceridian uses diesel fuel sales to track
U.S. economic growth.

By NEAL ST. ANTHONY, Star Tribune
Last update: March 9, 2010 - 9:03 PM

Want to know which way the economy is headed? Find out how much diesel
fuel is being burned by the nation's over-the-road truckers.

That's the theory behind a new economic index developed by Bloomington-
based Ceridian Corp., a provider of electronic payments services, and
UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

Called the Pulse of Commerce Index, the survey, to be released
Wednesday, shows the U.S. economy was essentially flat over the first
two months of the year, with a snowbound February decline of 0.7
percent in output offsetting the modest January gain of 0.6 percent.

"February was disappointing, but the geographic pattern underlying the
index suggests this was due in large part to extreme snowfalls during
the month," said Edward Leamer, director of UCLA's Anderson Forecast
and chief economist for the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index
(PCI). "We still need much stronger growth in the PCI to get Americans
back to work. To sustain at least a 4 percent GDP number for the first
quarter [on an annualized basis], the March PCI has to be ... over 1
percent growth. That number will be very important."

The new index is designed to get the jump on the Federal Reserve's
report on industrial production report for February, which comes out
next week.

The PCI uses real-time diesel fuel consumption data from over-the-road
truckers, which is tracked by Ceridian, a longtime payment services
provider to the trucking industry. The index is built by analyzing
Ceridian's electronic card payment data, which captures the location
and volume of diesel fuel being purchased. This provides a detailed
picture of the movement of products across the United States.

In an interview Tuesday, Leamer said that once the bad weather is
taken into account, February's numbers suggest that there is an
underlying power to industrial demand and he expects that a catch-up
surge in goods moved in March will indicate that the economy is
growing at about a 3 percent annualized rate during the first quarter.

"To be optimistic about jobs, we'll need at least that," Leamer said.
"In the fourth quarter, we had 5.9 percent growth, but 3.9 percent was
just inventory replacement. That leaves 2 percent. We need more than
that. And March will tell the quarter."

Leamer said the Ceridian diesel-consumption data, collected from about
7,000 service stations around the country, constitutes a
representative sample and provides a "real data, not surveys" about
the movement of goods, which is a manifestation of industrial
production and shipments.

The flow of commerce

"We're monitoring the flow of commerce at truck stops, and the
arteries for the commercial system are the interstate highways
carrying the products," he said. "It amplifies the swings in GDP and
also tells us early where the economy is going."

Industrial production only accounts for about one-third of the U.S.
economy. It is more volatile than the service sector, which fluctuates
less during economic cycles.

All economic eyes are on month-to-month changes in industrial output,
which is a guide to business spending, credit expansion and demand for
goods in the aftermath of the 2008-09 recession that has given way to
a fairly tepid economic recovery. Most labor economists believe that
the economy won't start adding jobs significantly unless industrial
output starts growing at a 3 to 5 percent annualized clip.

Back testing of the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index indicates
that it is a reliable indicator of industrial output. For example, the
index rose in areas unaffected by February's snows, including 2.7
percent in the Upper Midwest and 2.1 percent in the Pacific region.

"Goods have to be transported for the economy to grow, so when
snowstorms bog down that flow, it is reflected in our index and in the
overall U.S. economy," said Craig Manson, senior vice president and
index analyst for Ceridian.

A new finger on the pulse of economy...
Wait! The economy has a pulse?

posted by DrZoidberg on Mar 9, 10 at 11:55 pm |

http://www.startribune.com/business/87180717.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Posted: Wed, Mar 10 2010. 9:00 AM IST
International News

US, Europe eye free-trade pacts with rising Asia

The talks will follow the launch of negotiations on a free-trade
agreement between Singapore and the European Union, which is also keen
on expanding trade ties with Southeast Asia
AFP

Singapore: The United States, fearful of being sidelined as China and
other fast-growing Asian economies speed up their integration, is
banking on a new trade pact to shore up its Pacific influence.

Talks opening Monday in Melbourne will focus on a proposed Trans-
Pacific Partnership agreement linking the US market with Australia,
Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Officials hope the TPP will form the nucleus of a wider Asia-Pacific
trade zone that would eventually rope in China, Japan and South Korea
as well as key Southeast Asian nations.

The talks will follow the launch of negotiations on a free-trade
agreement between Singapore and the European Union, which is also keen
on expanding trade ties with Southeast Asia.

The United States and Europe have been shut out of a growing web of
Asia-centric trade pacts spurred by the region’s 1997 financial crisis
and by a lack of progress in the Doha round of global trade talks,
analysts said.

While the United States is “unquestionably” a Pacific power, it “lacks
a comprehensive Asia strategy”, said Ernest Bower, a Southeast Asia
expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in
Washington.

“The lack of consistent US focus in the region has enabled the
ascendance of Chinese power,” Bower said, adding that it could slowly
undermine US business interests and eventually degrade US security
capabilities.

The new trade attention from the West comes as Asian countries lead
the rest of the world in recovering from the global economic downturn.

“That the US and the EU are knocking on Asia’s doors is a recognition
that the centre of economic power is shifting, or has shifted, to our
region,” an Asian diplomat closely involved in trade issues told AFP.

“They know very well that ignoring Asia will be at their own peril.
China is already a major trade partner for many Asian countries and is
leading efforts toward regional economic integration,” he said on
condition of anonymity.

Deputy US trade representative Demetrios Marantis warned that
Washington “faces the daunting prospect of getting locked out” by Asia-
specific trade pacts.

A study by the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics
showed that discriminatory policies under an East Asia free trade zone
could cost the US economy at least 25 billion dollars of annual
exports and lead to the loss of “about 200,000 high-paying jobs”.

The United States has free-trade accords with Australia and Singapore
and has also negotiated a trade pact with South Korea, but this has
yet to be implemented due to fierce disputes over cars and beef.

China has been more aggressive in wooing regional partners.

An agreement between China and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) covering nearly two billion consumers went into effect
this year, creating the world’s biggest free-trade area in terms of
population.

There are also efforts to form a larger, all-Asian free-trade zone
spanning China, Japan, South Korea and the 10 ASEAN states.

C. Fred Bergsten and Jeffrey Schott of the Peterson Institute hailed
Washington’s decision to join the trans-Pacific talks in Australia.

“Deepening US engagement with countries in the Asia-Pacific region is
crucial for the advancement of both US economic and foreign policy
interests,” Bergsten and Schott said in a recent paper.

“Within the next few years, it is likely that the East Asian countries
will deepen their economic ties and conclude both a regional trade
agreement and a monetary agreement,” the authors said.

Such a bloc would “draw a line” in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by
discriminating against US exporters and investors, and excluding the
United States from major regional economic and security forums, they
said.

Marantis acknowledged that overcoming crisis-hit Americans’ opposition
to free-trade agreements is a key challenge.

Surveys suggest that only about one in 10 Americans think that trade
pacts create jobs, while more than half believe the accords lead to
job losses at home, he said.

http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/10090029/US-Europe-eye-freetrade-pact.html

...and I am Sid Harth

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thread/thread/fbe56c67d373c696/31b16b774a16ac15

[Sid Harth]

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thread/thread/37334fb34fbe6d7c/46bf295527d8d0a3#46bf295527d8d0a3

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian.marathi/browse_thre...
...and I am Sid Harth

Book Review

Perry Anderson on the Specter of China
Posted on Mar 19, 2010
By Perry Anderson

The following review originally appeared in the London Review of
Books, whose website is www.lrb.co.uk, and is reposted with
permission.

These days Orientalism has a bad name. Edward Said depicted it as a
deadly mixture of fantasy and hostility brewed in the West about
societies and cultures of the East. He based his portrait on Anglo-
French writing about the Near East, where Islam and Christendom
battled with each other for centuries before the region fell to
Western imperialism in modern times. But the Far East was always
another matter. Too far away to be a military or religious threat to
Europe, it generated tales not of fear or loathing, but wonder. Marco
Polo’s reports of China, now judged mostly hearsay, fixed fabulous
images that lasted down to Columbus setting sail for the marvels of
Cathay. But when real information about the country arrived in the
17th and 18th centuries, European attitudes towards China tended to
remain an awed admiration, rather than fear or condescension. From
Bayle and Leibniz to Voltaire and Quesnay, philosophers hailed it as
an empire more civilised than Europe itself: not only richer and more
populous, but more tolerant and peaceful, a land where there were no
priests to practise persecution and offices of the state were filled
according to merit, not birth. Even those sceptical of the more
extravagant claims for the Middle Kingdom – Montesquieu or Adam Smith
– remained puzzled and impressed by its wealth and order.

A drastic change of opinion came in the 19th century, when Western
predators became increasingly aware of the relative military weakness
and economic backwardness of the Qing empire. China was certainly
teeming, but it was also primitive, cruel and superstitious. Respect
gave way to contempt, mingled with racist alarm – Sinomania capsizing
into Sinophobia. By the early 20th century, after eight foreign forces
had stormed their way to Pekin to crush the Boxer Uprising, the
‘yellow peril’ was being widely bandied about among press and
politicians, as writers like Jack London or J.H. Hobson conjured up a
future Chinese takeover of the world. Within another few decades, the
pendulum swung back, as Pearl Buck and Madame Chiang won popular
sympathy for China’s gallant struggle against Japan. After 1948, in a
further rapid reversal, Red China became the focus of still greater
fear and anxiety, a totalitarian nightmare more sinister even than
Russia. Today, the high-speed growth of the People’s Republic is
transforming Western attitudes once again, attracting excitement and
enthusiasm in business and media alike, with a wave of fashion and
fascination recalling the chinoiserie of rococo Europe. Sinophobia has
by no means disappeared. But another round of Sinomania is in the
making.

The title of Martin Jacques’s When China Rules the World belongs to
the scare literature of the first. But its function is little more
than a commercial come-on, designed to clear the purchased display-
table and the airport stall. The book itself is a sweeping
contribution to the second. Its message consists of two parts. The
first is the now well-known projection that – at present growth rates
– the Chinese economy will be the largest in the world, overtaking the
American, within about 15 years. With four times the population of the
US, China already has the biggest foreign reserves, is the leading
exporter, posts the most spectacular stock-market gains, and contains
the largest car market on earth. So massive is the transformation its
rise to economic supremacy will bring that – so Jacques – history can
henceforward simply be divided into BC and AC: Before China and After
China. This part of the argument is a straightforward quantitative
extrapolation. Jacques hammers the impending figures home, without
adding a great deal to what anyone with a certain economic literacy
would know already.

Beyond altering international league tables, what will China’s
emergence as an economic superpower signify? The second part of
Jacques’s message is not about size, but difference. China is not like
other nations, indeed is not really a nation-state at all. It is
something vaster and deeper, a ‘civilisation-state’, inheritor of the
oldest continuous history in the world, whose underlying cultural
unity and self-confidence are without equal. Long before the West, its
rulers created the first modern bureaucracy, imbued with a Confucian
outlook at once authoritarian and democratic, controlling domestic
subjects more by moral education than force, and organising adjacent
regions into a consensual tributary system. By absorbing feudal
aristocrats into impersonal state service, they freed market forces
from customary constraints to develop a commercial society of
unparalleled dynamism and sophistication. Only the accident of more
readily available coal at home, and ruthless colonial pillage of
resources overseas, allowed 19th-century Europe to overtake this great
proto-modern economy, as industrialised in its way as the West, and
much larger. But this Western predominance will prove a brief
interval. Today, China is returning once more to its historic position
as the dynamic centre of the global economy.

What are going to be the consequences for the rest of the world?
Traumatically for the United States, China will fairly soon replace it
as hegemon, not only in traditional areas of Chinese influence in East
and South-East Asia, but across former Third and First Worlds alike.
The soft power of its sporting prowess, its martial arts, its costly
painters, its multitudinous language, its ancient medicine, and not
least the delights of its cuisine, will spread China’s radiance far
and wide, as Hollywood, English and McDonald’s do America’s today.
Above all, its spectacular economic success will not only inspire
imitation wherever poor nations strive for betterment. It will reorder
the entire international system, by holding out the prospect, not of
democracy within nation-states, which the West vainly seeks to
promote, but of ‘democracy between nation-states’. For we are entering
a time in which the political and ideological conflicts that marked
the Cold War are giving way to an ‘overarching cultural contest’, in
which ‘alternative modernities’ will end the dominance of the West. In
that emancipation a distinctively Chinese modernity, rooted in the
Confucian values of devotion to the family and respect for the state,
will lead the way.

How should this construction be judged? Enthusiasm, however well-
meaning, is no substitute for discrimination. Chinese antiquity
stretches back to 1500 BCE or beyond. But this no more makes today’s
People’s Republic a special genus of ‘civilisation-state’ than
comparable claims for la civilisation française make one of the Third
or Fourth Republic. Talk of ‘civilisations’ is notoriously self-
serving, and delimitations of them arbitrary: Samuel Huntington
arrived, rather desperately, at eight or nine – including an African,
Latin American and Eastern Orthodox civilisation. Nothing is gained by
affixing this embellishment to the PRC. Like France in the 1930s or
1950s, contemporary China is an integrist nation-state, cast in an
imperial mould, if with a much longer past and on a much larger scale.
Nor are inflated claims for the age-old economic centrality or social
wisdom of pre-modern China much help in understanding the present or
future of the country. If, up through the Song, China was
technologically and commercially far in advance of Europe, by the end
of the Ming its science lagged well behind, and even at the height of
Qing prosperity in the 18th century, agrarian productivity and average
wage levels, let alone intellectual progress in a broader sense, were
nowhere near vanguard developments in Europe. Nor are idyllic images
of sage concern for the welfare of the masses much closer to the
realities of rule by successive dynasties, which in the words of one
of China’s finest historians, He Bingdi, were always ‘ornamentally
Confucian and functionally Legalist’ – repression wrapped in
moralising rhetoric.

It would be unfair to judge any of this side of When China Rules the
World, a popular work, by scholarly standards. None of it matters very
much to the main thrust of the book, where it serves only as
preliminary folklore to adjust readers in advance to the idea of pre-
eminence to come. China could perfectly well be about to dominate the
world without having nearly always represented the summit of universal
development in the past. More serious is the incoherence of the book’s
central message. For the most part, When China Rules the World is an
unabashed exercise in boosterism, hailing the PRC not only as the
paramount power of the future, but as the liberating ice-breaker that
will, in the book’s American subtitle, bring about ‘The End of the
Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order’. Sightings of this
sort seem to have become a late British speciality: Jacques’s version
is only a little less absurd than Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century
by Mark Leonard, a fellow seer of the Demos think tank Jacques helped
to found. But there is another side to When China Rules the World at
odds with its generally upbeat story. Internationally, China has
‘embraced multilateralism’, attracts its neighbours and partners by
‘soft power’, and promotes ‘democracy between nations’. Yet we also
need to be aware that ‘the Chinese regard themselves as superior to
the rest of the human race,’ inheriting a Middle Kingdom mentality
that has always been more or less racist, and traditions of tributary
statecraft that may have been conducive to stability, but were always
based on hierarchy and inequality. Might this heritage compromise the
fair prospect of a democratic inter-state system? Not necessarily,
since while ‘the Western world is over, the new world, at least for
the next century, will not be Chinese in the way that the previous one
was Western’. The book, in other words, disowns its own title,
confected purely to increase sales. China is not going to rule the
world. All that is happening is that ‘we are entering an era of
competing modernity’ in which China will ‘increasingly be in the
ascendant and eventually dominant’.

But the idea of a distinctively ‘Chinese modernity’ winning a global
competition for hegemony is no more coherent than that of high-speed
Chinese growth ushering in ‘democracy between nation-states’. Its role
in the book is to be understood in the light of the author’s cursus
vitae. Once the editor of the Communist Party of Great Britain’s
monthly, Marxism Today, after his party and journal gave up the ghost
in the early 1990s Jacques moved into mainstream journalism, shedding
the language, if not altogether the reflexes, of his past. The Cold
War over and the Soviet Union gone, the opposition between socialism
and capitalism was now a back number. How then should the open-door
policies of the PRC – its welcome to the world market – be related to
it? This is not a matter on which When China Rules the World cares to
dwell. Such questions belong to a vocabulary the book goes out of its
way to avoid. Over five hundred pages, the word ‘capitalism’ scarcely
ever appears. But there is still a global contest, in which the more
sympathetic side can nonetheless win. Simply, it is now between not
the outdated political and ideological categories of socialism and
capitalism, but alternative ‘modernities’, as so many different
cultural ways of being up to the minute. The function of this change
of lexicon is not hard to see. What it offers is the chance of a
consolation prize for the left. Capitalism may have won worldwide, so
why bother to go on talking about it? Instead, why not look ahead to
the welcome prospect of a non-Western variant of what is now our
common destiny overtopping all others, in a country where the ruling
party at least still describes itself as Communist?

Alas, there is a logical difficulty in this wistful hope, which is
insuperable. Alternative modernities, so conceived, are cultural, not
structural: they differentiate not social systems, but sets of values
– typically, a distinctive combination of morality and sensibility,
making up a certain national ‘style’ of life. But just because this is
what is most specific to any given culture, it is typically what is
least transferable to any other – that is, impossible to universalise.
Other recent works highlighting cultural differences in a post-
ideological world – Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations or Fukuyama’s
Trust come to mind – have grasped this intransitivity, making no
claims that any one complex could tend towards predominance over all
others, in the way that a modal economic order can. Moreover,
projections of a Chinese modernity that will eventually become
hegemonic not only forget the inherently self-limiting character of
any strongly defined national culture, they further ignore the
especially intense Chinese insistence, familiar to anyone who has been
in the country, on the uniqueness of China. Few contemporary cultures,
save perhaps Japan, are so self-consciously resistant to international
comparison, so convinced of the inimitability of their own forms and
traditions. In his way, Jacques is aware of this, at times even
exaggerating it as an inveterate sense of superiority close to racism,
of which there is less evidence than he assumes. But he fails to see
how thoroughly the cult of Zhonghuaxing – ‘Chineseness’ – undoes his
own imaginings of a future Han modernity spreading triumphantly, as a
universal attractor, across the globe.

The rise of the PRC as a great economic, political and military power
is a central fact of the age. But it gains no illumination from a
vacant notion of modernity, which remains as nebulous at the end of
When China Rules the World as it was at the beginning. It would not be
too unfair to say that what the book at bottom represents is a belated
meeting of Yesterday’s Marxism with Asian Values. For beyond a general
insistence on the ethical continuities of Confucianism, of which
Chinese Communism is viewed as a lineal heir, it says remarkably
little about contemporary Chinese society itself. A few cursory lines
noting that inequality has been growing, but the government is now
acting to redress it; a bit more on the shortage of natural resources
and environmental problems; a clipped paragraph on the Party; some
prudent reflections on trouble in the border regions; and a firm
assurance that the country is not ready for democracy, so it would be
best if the CCP could rule undisturbed for another 30 years: this is
more or less all the reader curious to learn about the actual social
landscape of the PRC could gather from it. Certainly there is nothing
to upset the authorities in Beijing, where reception should be
excellent. In 1935, the Webbs entitled their book on the USSR Soviet
Communism: A New Civilisation?, dropping the question mark in
subsequent editions. Today’s ‘civilisation-state’ has been approached
in something of the same spirit.

Serious understanding of contemporary China lies elsewhere. Two works
of outstanding scholarship, from opposite ends of the political and
intellectual spectrum, can be taken as current benchmarks. From the
liberal right, Yasheng Huang’s Capitalism with Chinese
Characteristics is a tour de force of empirical inquiry, conceptual
clarity and independence of mind. Anyone wanting to know what kind of
economy, and what sort of growth, can be found in the PRC should now
start here. Huang’s premises could not be more rigidly neoclassical:
sound development is delivered by private ownership, secure property
rights, financial liberalisation and the systemic deregulation of
economic transactions – and these alone. His conclusions, however, are
a clear illustration of the truth of Carlo Ginzburg’s observation that
a misguided ideology can be a precondition of original research, as
well – perhaps as often – as an obstacle to it. By meticulous scrutiny
of primary evidence, above all a huge mass of bank documentation
tracking loans and their recipients, rather than simply relying on
aggregated second-hand statistics, Huang has cut through the clouds of
obscurity and confusion that have tended to surround the performance
of the Chinese economy in the Reform Era which followed the passing of
Mao.

His central finding is that the apparently unbroken rates of high-
speed growth have rested on two quite different models of development.
In the 1980s, a general liberalisation of financial policy allowed
private businesses to flourish in the countryside, many under the
misleading sobriquet of ‘township and village enterprises’, as credits
flowed to peasant start-ups and rural poverty fell dramatically. Then
came the shock of 1989. Thereafter, the state abruptly changed course,
choking off credits to rural entrepreneurs, switching loan capital
instead into large, rebuilt state-owned enterprises and urban
infrastructures, and – not least – granting massive advantages to
foreign capital drawn to the big cities. The social consequences of
this change, Huang argues, were dramatic. Inequality – not only
between village and city-dwellers, but within the urban population
itself – soared, as labour’s share of GDP fell, while peasants lost
land, rural healthcare and schooling were dismantled, and illiteracy
in the countryside actually grew. In a blistering chapter on Shanghai,
the showcase of Chinese ‘hyper-modernity’, Huang demonstrates how
little average households in the city benefited from its glittering
towers and streamlined infrastructures. Amid a ‘forest of grand
theft’, officials, developers and foreign executives prospered while
private firms were stunted and ordinary families struggled to get by,
in ‘the world’s most successful Potemkin metropolis’. Nationwide, in
20 years, officialdom – raking in four successive, double-digit
increases in its salaries between 1998 and 2001 alone – has more than
doubled in size.

Cautiously, Huang expresses some optimism about the direction of the
current Hu-Wen government, as a correction of the worst excesses of
the Jiang-Zhu regime of the 1990s, while remarking that its reforms
may prove too late to redress the ruin of peasant enterprise, in
villages now often emptied by labour migration. But he ends by
contrasting the sky-high Gini coefficient of today’s PRC with the
relative equity that marked the high-speed growth in the rest of East
Asia – Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – and the far greater role in
China of foreign and state enterprises, and the lesser weight of the
domestic private sector, in the country’s growth model. One
consequence, he maintains, is that productivity gains have been
declining since the mid-1990s. For Huang, the lesson is
straightforward: efficiency and equity always depend on free markets,
which in China remain half-strangled. Capitalism there certainly is,
but a variety deformed by a corrupt and self-aggrandising state, which
in denying its people liberty to manage their own economic affairs has
failed to create reasonable conditions of fairness or welfare. The
prescription is simplistic, as a glance at the United States could
have told any scholar at MIT like Huang. Since the 1980s, financial
liberalisation and cast-iron property rights have not delivered much
social equity to Americans. But the indictment, set out with exemplary
care and lucidity, is unnegotiable. So too is the anger behind it, at
callousness and injustice. Not many economists would think to dedicate
their work, as Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics does, to a
couple of imprisoned villagers and an executed housewife.

Huang’s central concern is with the fate of rural China, where, as he
rightly insists, the majority of the population still lives and dies.
The fate of urban labour is the subject of Ching Kwan Lee’s Against
the Law. Studies of the working class anywhere in the world, once a
staple of history and sociology, have declined along with labour
movements as a political force; in recent years, perhaps only in
France has writing of real distinction appeared. Lee’s book, written
from a standpoint on the radical left, transforms this scene. Although
quite different in mode and scale, in power nothing like it has
appeared since E.P. Thompson’s Making of the English Working Class.
In fact, it could well have been called The Unmaking and Remaking of
the Chinese Working Class. The product of seven years’ research and
interview work on the ground, it is an ethnographic and analytic
masterpiece.

The book is a diptych, one part devoted to the rustbelt of Manchuria,
the other to the sunbelt of Guangdong. Its first half is a study of
the destruction of the proletariat that built China’s principal
industrial base after Liberation, as the great state-owned enterprises
of the north-east were scrapped or sold off, leaving their workers
jobless and often near-penniless, while officials and profiteers lined
their pockets with what was left of all they had created. By
coincidence, we have an unforgettable fresco of the wreckage of this
old working class and its universe in Wang Bing’s nine-hour
documentary West of the Tracks (2003), a landmark of world cinema in
this century and a fitting pendant to Against the Law, made in
Shenyang while Lee was conducting her research in the same city. The
second part of Lee’s book explores the emergence of a new working
class of young migrant labourers from the countryside, about half of
them women, without collective identity or political memory, in the
coastal export zones of the south-east. They have low-wage jobs, but
no security, toiling up to 70 or 80 hours a week in often atrocious
working conditions, with widespread exposure to abuse and injury.
Dereliction in the rustbelt, super-exploitation in the sunbelt: the
treatment of labour is pitiless in either zone.

How do workers react to it? In a system where they have no freedom of
industrial or political organisation, and the social contract that
once gave them a modest security and dignity in exchange for
subordination has been jettisoned, the law – however authoritarian –
becomes the only resource to which they can appeal. Any direct action
risking police repression, protests typically find their way to the
courts, in the hope that blatant violations of legality by employers
or local officials will find some redress there – and in the belief
that the central government, if it knew its laws were being broken,
would take action to see them enforced. Such popular faith in the good
intentions of the Party leadership might be seen as a Chinese version
of the traditional Russian belief in the tsar as ‘Little Father’,
unaware of the misdeeds of his bureaucrats and landlords. The central
authorities naturally foster the illusion that they are not
responsible for illegalities lower down, giving them leeway to step in
with last minute concessions when protests look like getting out of
hand.

In fact, as Lee makes clear, the law can only function as an effective
system of control and mystification if the courts do not invariably
act as rubber stamps for criminality or oppression. In general, that
is just how they do behave. But in a minority of cases, labour
disputes are decided – more often partially than wholly – in favour of
workers, keeping alive the belief that the law remains a protection
even where it is being brazenly flouted by those with state power
behind them. In ways reminiscent of the 18th-century England depicted
by Thompson in Whigs and Hunters, notions of ‘the rule of law’ become
a battleground, in which the anger of those below seeks to wrest
verdicts from the cynicism of those on high, as the only potential
weapons of the weak to hand. The reason regular failure in this
unequal contest does not lead to more explosive forms of protest, Lee
shows, is material rather than ideological. In the rustbelt, workers
dispossessed of everything else typically retain their own housing,
privatised to them at low prices, as a safety net. In the sunbelt,
migrant labourers still have rights to a plot of earth back in their
villages, where land has not yet been privatised, as a fall-back. For
all the wretchedness of their respective lots, neither is quite
destitute: each has something to lose.

The sobriety and realism of these conclusions diminishes nothing of
the tragedy of betrayed hopes and ruined lives that fills the pages of
Against the Law. Lee’s capture of the voices of those caught in the
relentless industrial mechanisms of the Reform Era, in one poignant
interview after another, is among the finest accomplishments of her
book. The stories are often heartbreaking, but the accents with which
they are told speak of courage, indignation, stoicism, even humour, as
much as bitterness, resignation or despair. Few sociological studies
have combined structural and existential, objective and subjective
truths so memorably as this one. Without taking stock of it, no sense
of contemporary China is clear-eyed. In the 19th century, Europe
looked to America as the future, if one still quite some way off. In
the 21st century, the West looks towards China in something of the
same way. So far, certainly, no Tocqueville of the East has appeared.
Is what he once achieved repeatable? There is plenty of time yet. But
it is unlikely that Democracy in America will find its successor,
wherever else it might, in any Modernity in China.

http://www.amazon.com/When-China-Rules-World-Western/dp/1594201854%3FSubscriptionId%3D1XWTFJ60BR6QZ1PW9FR2%26tag%3Dtruthdig-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1594201854

Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics: Entrepreneurship and the
State
By Yasheng Huang

Cambridge University Press, 366 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Chinese-Characteristics-Entrepreneurship-State/dp/0521898102%3FSubscriptionId%3D1XWTFJ60BR6QZ1PW9FR2%26tag%3Dtruthdig-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0521898102

Against the Law: Labor Protests in China’s Rustbelt and Sunbelt
By Ching Kwan Lee

University of California Press, 340 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Against-Law-Protests-Rustbelt-Sunbelt/dp/0520250974%3FSubscriptionId%3D1XWTFJ60BR6QZ1PW9FR2%26tag%3Dtruthdig-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0520250974

http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/perry_anderson_on_the_specter_of_china_20100319/

Free PDF Ebooks Files @AcrobatPlanet.Com ..Home

Submitted by wulan on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 06:31 Business & Economics

In the 12 years from 1978 to 1990, China‘s reform and opening up
achieved remarkable progress, with its GDP growing 9.0% annually and
trade volume growing at 15.4%. During this period, urban per capita
income grew 5.9% annually, but that of rural areas grew at a
spectacular rate of 9.9% annually (NBS, 2002 pp.17, 94,148). People‘s
living standards and incomes increased significantly and urban-rural
disparities fell.

The achievement of China‘s reform can be called a miracle in economic
history. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, international
economic research community did not understand much about China‘s
reform, and many economists were far from optimistic. Most economists
believed that a market economy should be based on private property, a
feature that the Chinese economy apparently lacked at that time.
China‘s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were not privatized; a dual-
track resource allocation system was prevalent with state planning
still playing a very important role. They thought that although
China‘s economic transition was blessed with beneficial initial
conditions such as high proportions of cheap rural labor, low social
security subsidies, a large population of overseas Chinese, and a
relatively decentralized economy that helped to achieve some short-
term progress, the dual-track system would soon lead to efficiency
loss, rent-seeking, and institutionalized state-opportunism, which
constituted an inferior institutional arrangement. (Balcerowicz, 1994;
Woo, 1993; Sachs and Woo, 1994 and 1997; Qian and Xu, 1993.). Some
economists even claimed that China‘s transition would finally fail due
to incomplete reform (Murphy, Schleifer, and Vishny, 1992; Sachs, Woo,
and Yang, 2000).

At that time, most economists were optimistic about reform in the
Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (FSUEE hereafter) due to the
fact that these countries reformed their economies according to the
fundamental principles of neo-classical economics. The most
representative of these principles was the —shock therapy“ implemented
in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Russia, which consisted of three
main components: price liberalization, rapid privatization, and
macroeconomic stabilization by removing fiscal deficits. (Lipton and
Sachs, 1990; Blanchard, Dornbusch, Krugman, Layard, and Summers, 1991;
Boycko, Shleifer, and Vishiny, 1995.) These components are considered
the base of an efficient economic system in neoclassical economic
theory.

Economists recommending shock therapy also knew that it took time to
make the transition from one economic system to another and that it
was costly to cast aside previously vested interests. But they
optimistically assumed that the national economy would grow after six
months or a year following an initial downturn stemming from the
introduction of shock therapy (Brada and King, 1991; Kornai, 1990;
Lipton and Sachs, 1990; Wiles, 1995). According to their beliefs, the
FSUEE would overtake China through their reform, though the former
started their reforms much later, and China‘s difficulties would loom
larger due to inconsistencies inside the economic system brought about
by incomplete reforms.

Ten years have elapsed since the predictions of many renowned
economists were put forth in the early 1990s. Contrary to these
predictions, China‘s economy has grown in the past decade while those
countries that implemented the shock therapy experienced serious
inflation and economic decline. Russia‘s inflation reached 8414% in
1993, and that of Ukraine reached 10155%. In 1995, Russia‘s GDP was
only half of what it had been in 1990, and Ukraine‘s situation was
worse with a 60% decline during the same period. With significant
declines in per capita income and extreme exacerbation of income
disparities, all social indicators slid–male life expectancy in Russia
decreased from 64 years in 1990 to 58 in 1994 (Gregory and Stuart,
2001, p. 470). Overall, the countries that implemented shock therapy
experienced great difficulties in reform, in contrast to the
optimistic expectation of most economists. In eastern European
countries, Poland scored best in economic transition with only a 20%
decline in its GDP. Poland did not really implement reform based on
shock therapy, however. Although prices in Poland were liberalized,
most of its large SOEs have yet to be privatized (World Bank, 1996;
Dabrowski, 2001).

In the 1990s, the Chinese economy did suffer from a myriad of
problems. For example, the SOE reforms initiated in the early 1980s
have yet to be completed; inter-regional and urbanœrural disparities
have enlarged; and there are still many serious problems in financial
system awaiting solution. However, the national economy grew 10.1%
annually in the 1990s, 1.1% higher than that of the previous 12 years.
International trade grew also at a rate of 15.2% in the last decade
(NBS, 2002, pp. 17,94),. Moreover, people‘s living standards improved
rapidly, especially in urban areas. Economic development in China not
only promoted the welfare of the Chinese people, but also contributed
greatly to the world economy. During the Asian Financial Crisis, the
Chinese currency (RMB) did not depreciate, which played an important
role in Southeast Asian economies‘ quick recovery and growth.

Download
PDF Ebook Viability, Economic Transition and Reflections on Neo-
classical Economics

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March 19, 2010 1:52 PM
Is China Building the Next Bubble?
Posted by MoneyWatch.com

This post by Carla Fried originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

Will the next pop you hear be the sound of the China bubble bursting?
A few of the world's savvier financial minds think so.

Jim Chanos has made a fortune betting against investments he believes
are ripe for a fall. Among his most illustrious short trades was
pegging high-flying Enron as a disaster in waiting. Today the hedge
fund manager is taking aim at China. "Without a modicum of doubt we
have a credit-driven property bubble right now," Chanos recently
declared in a talk he gave at the London School of Economics. That was
a toned-down version of his quip to the New York Times that China is
"Dubai times 1,000 -- or worse," a comment the manager of the $6
billion Kynikos fund now half-heartedly describes as tongue-in-cheek.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/business/global/08chanos.html

Chanos is adding his respected voice to a growing rumble that China's
economy is nearing 212°F. In a recent survey of investment pros who
subscribe to Bloomberg's news and data service, 62 percent said they
believed China is brewing a bubble. Also singing in the China bubble
chorus: Harvard economics professor Kenneth Rogoff, Gloom and Doom
report publisher Marc Faber, and, most recently, James Rickards, a
Virginia-based consultant who knows a thing or two about financial
calamity -- he was the general counsel for Long-Term Capital
Management. To be clear, the China bubble talk is mostly focused on
the country's real estate sector, where property sales jumped 76
percent in 2009 and prices in some markets have recently been rising 8
to 10 percent a month. But the fear is that a meltdown in the real
estate market could take down the rest of the Chinese economy with it,
as has happened in the U.S. and Japan. And with China expected to
account for about a third of global growth in 2010, the consequences
could well be global.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aNZe4JWeV1aw

The Mother of All Stimulus Projects

The roots of the problem lie in China's aggressive response to the
financial crisis. To make up for reduced exports, the government
ramped up domestic spending and what ensued was the "mother of all
stimulus projects," says Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the
Peterson Institute for International Economics. The roughly $575
billion in direct stimulus doled out by China's central government
represented 15 percent of its GDP. (Consider that if the U.S. stimulus
program had clocked in at 15 percent of GDP we would be debating the
merits of a $2 trillion program, not the $787 billion Congress settled
on.)

China's banks also followed the stimulus script, doling out $1.4
trillion in loans last year, a 30 percent increase from 2008. All that
liquidity did the job. According to China's official data (which are
notorious for their lack of transparency) the domestic economy
expanded 12.6 percent in 2009, offsetting a three percentage point
decline in GDP from exports. Overall, China's economy grew 8.7 percent
in 2009, up from 2008's anemic -- at least by China's standards -- GDP
growth of 6.8 percent.

However, much of the stimulus spending and lending has found its way
into real estate, creating ominous imbalances and the potential for
huge amounts of bad loans that the Chinese government would then have
to cover. Commercial developers who were all too happy to take the
stimulus money and build on spec are now often hard-pressed to find
tenants; entire office buildings and shopping malls stand empty in
many large cities that have attracted the most development. In the
residential market, the problem is flipped: too much demand and not
enough supply. Homes are the default investment choice for an
increasingly flush populace that has limited access to other
investment vehicles. And the prevailing sentiment is that if you don't
buy today you are going to be priced out of the market tomorrow.

In response to concerns that it's inflating a bubble in real estate,
the central government has begun taking steps to cool things off, but
to date it's more talk than action. Bank reserve requirements and a
key lending rate have been increased only slightly, and official 2010
lending targets, while lower than last year, will still surpass credit
outlays from 2008.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/business/economy/19fed.html

Bubble Dynamics

A torrent of commercial development, a residential market convinced
that if you don't get in today you're toast, and a wan government
response to overheating ... Sound familiar? But there are several key
structural differences between our real estate mess and China's
situation, which suggest it is simplistic to assume China's bubble
must end in a U.S.-style meltdown.

1. Leverage is muted. About 25 percent of Chinese buy their homes
outright with cash. Among borrowers, a 50 percent down payment is
typical; you can't get a mortgage with less than 20 percent down and
if you are looking to buy a second (or third) property the down
payment is 40 percent. China also has yet to develop a HELOC market.
Lardy, of the PIIE, notes that China's household debt as a share of
household income runs about 40 percent. In 2007, U.S. household debt
to income was 130 percent. Nor has China fallen into the grasp of Wall
Street alchemists concocting toxic real estate derivatives.

2. It's not a blanket bubble. Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai are
China's Florida, Nevada, and California: speculation and overbuilding
have clearly fed bubble valuations. But Nicholas Consonery, China
analyst at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm, says
there's still plenty of unmet demand in China's second-, third-, and
fourth-tier cities.

3. The ubiquitous demand argument. Consonery also articulates the most
oft-heard reason for why the bubble doesn't have to burst: China
actually needs more construction, not less, to accommodate the mass
migration of Chinese from their rural past to their urban future.

While China's real estate picture doesn't necessarily stack up as
Dubai times 1,000, or even the United States circa 2006, similarities
to Japan's property bubble could be more salient. Rather than a quick
burst, Japan is still working through a long slow deflation from its
epic property bubble that peaked in the late 1980s. Patrick Chovanec,
professor at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management
in Beijing, who has advised private equity funds on China investments,
says that's the danger facing China. "Never underestimate the ability
of the Chinese to brush things under the rug, rather than
acknowledging losses and poor investments," Chovanec cautions. "That
can create a long-term drag on the economy."

Koyo Ozeki, head of Pimco's Asian credit analysis team, acknowledges
the Japan corollary (his comparison of China, Japan, and U.S. real
estate bubbles is below), but he believes a crucial difference is that
China has the ability to grow its way out of trouble. His worst case
scenario is that there's a two- or three-year cooling off period for
property values, but not a meltdown. "I think that it [would be] a
'correction,' as opposed to a 'burst of a bubble' similar to those
seen in the developed countries, because of China's structural demand
for modern houses," says Ozeki.

Source: Pimco estimates

The 437,000 Renminbi Question

What does this mean for your portfolio? When you have sharp minds on
both sides of the argument that should be a tip that making a big bet
on either is probably unwise. Moreover, China presents a few extra
challenges. Despite its large footprint -- China is expected to take
over Japan as the second largest economy in 2010 -- keep in mind we're
still talking about an emerging market.

Volatility and surprises (both upside and downside) are the norm. Add
in the fact that China's financial system and data reporting aren't
exactly open source code and you have another layer of complexity. And
even the China bears are careful to point out that they have no clue
when the bubble will burst. "We are not calling for an impending
crash," Chanos reminded the LSE crowd. Rogoff, former chief economist
of the IMF and co-author of This Time is Different, which chronicles
the long history of global financial calamities, recently told
Business Week he believes the liquidity deluge in China will
eventually culminate in enough bad debt to cause China's economic
growth to slow to just 2 percent to 3 percent a year. But as for when,
well, Rogoff would only pin it down to some time in the next 10 years,
and added that the setback would be short-term, not a Japanese-style
slow bleed.

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/video/whats-wrong-with-the-recovery/356913/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-24/rogoff-says-china-crisis-may-trigger-regional-slump-update1-.html

Given all that uncertainty, it seems wise to channel Pascal's Wager:
Acknowledge you might be wrong and adjust your portfolio accordingly.
In this instance, that's an argument for taking a look at what might
happen if in fact China's bubble blows so explosively that it sends
the economy into a severe downturn. Here's how your portfolio could be
affected:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/article/economic-outlook-could-things-go-too-well/353298/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Stocks: China is the third largest economy behind the U.S. and Japan,
and it is expected to push its way to number two this year. The IMF
forecasts that China will grow 10 percent, more than double the
overall world rate. If the bubble does in fact burst, growth will slow
and we could be in for round two of a global recession. That's an
argument for being cautious with equities and making sure your
emergency cash fund stays stuffed.

U.S. Treasuries: China holds about 10 percent of outstanding Treasury
debt; it jockeys with Japan from month-to-month for the top spot among
foreign investors. If China's economy hit the skids, one theory is
that it might choose to sell off Treasuries to raise capital for
spending back home. But dumping Treasuries is far from an easy call
for China, as it would depress the value of its Treasury portfolio and
cause the renminbi to rise in value (and the dollar to fall), which is
not ideal for its exports. Questions about how China will handle its
cache of U.S. Treasuries will likely keep the bond market on edge.
That's just another risk factor to add to why Treasuries aren't
exactly the safest investment right now.
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/retirement-planning/blog/financial-independence/would-you-lend-to-tim-geithner-on-these-terms/745/?tag=content;col1

Emerging market funds and ETFs: These are the most obvious losers if
China falters. It's not just that China represents 17 percent of the
MSCI Emerging Market Index -- the single largest country weight -- but
that so many of the other emerging markets, especially those rich in
resources such as Brazil and Russia, need China to remain a hungry
consumer. Overweighting emerging markets seems especially dicey right
now, despite the sector's recent strong performance. But even beyond
the implications of a China bubble, it's also wise to understand that
the fastest-growing economies don't always produce the highest
investment returns.
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investing/blog/wise-investing/growth-in-china-india-and-brazil-might-not-mean-great-investment-returns/1002/?tag=content;col1

Bubble or not, one thing is clear: China is teeing itself up for
plenty of volatility in the coming years. And it will affect the whole
world. "Even with the strong long-term fundamentals, any market that
has experienced such rapid growth creates its own fragility," says
investment banker Euan Rellie, senior managing director of Business
Development Asia LLC. "That makes it certain there will be declines
and corrections."

More on MoneyWatch:

China's Growth Threatened by Inflation, Or Is It Deflation?
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investing/blog/against-grain/chinas-growth-threatened-by-inflation-or-is-it-deflation/481/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Video: Why You Should Worry About China
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/video/why-you-should-worry-about-china/385526/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

The China Boom: A Sure Thing NOT to Bet on in 2010
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/retirement-planning/blog/financial-independence/china-the-sure-thing-not-to-bet-on-in-2010/677/?tag=content;col1

Video: Why You Need Emerging Markets in Your Portfolio
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investing/video/investors-why-you-need-china-and-brazil/388541/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503983_162-20000790-503983.html

China : Shifting Concentration Of Real Wealth
By: Indranil Sen Gupta Friday, March 19, 2010 9:56 AM

In my last column I discussed about the immense potentiality of china
towards creation of wealthy citizens. I have tried to depict the true
picture of the Chinese government, which helps to increase and develop
the citizens of china. It clearly points out those Chinese economic
policies are helping to reduce the gap of rich and poor. The proof of
the pudding is that China ranks No 2 on Forbes billionaires list.
Moreover 27 of them have made into the list for the first time and
that also at a point of time when the world economy is fighting
enormously with the recession nights.

I ended the report with a prelude to this topic where I will again try
my level best to bring forth the policy behind making Chinese citizen
and economy so surprising to the world economy. But before that we all
need to have a quick look towards the covered up journey of China.

If we look into the historic position of Chinese economy it will very
hard for any one to believe about the turn around been formalized in
to shape of today's Chinese economy.

• China's industries developed and grew from 1927 to 1931. Though
badly hit by the Great Depression from 1931 to 1935 and Japan's
occupation of Manchuria in 1931, industrial output recovered by 1936.

• By 1936, industrial output had recovered and surpassed its previous
peak in 1931 prior to the Great Depression's effects on China.

• This is best shown by the trends in Chinese GDP. In 1932, China's
GDP peaked at 28.8 billion, before falling to 21.3 billion by 1934 and
recovering to 23.7 billion by 1935.

• In 1978, China was to witness one of the most rapid periods of
change in her 5,000 year history.

• 30 years later, China had developed from an economically desolate
and ideological-driven country into an industrial powerhouse, rapidly
overtaking developed western nations in recession.

• In the 1990s, many state enterprises were privatized and private
individuals were allowed to create companies. In 1990, the Shanghai
Stock Exchange was reopened after Mao first closed it 41 years
earlier.

• It also established a series of "special economic zones" in which
foreigners could invest in China taking advantage of lower labor
costs.

This investment helped the Chinese economy boom. In addition, the
Chinese government established a series of joint ventures with foreign
capital to establish companies in industries hitherto unknown in
China.

• By 2001, China became a member of the World Trade Organization,
which has boosted its overall trade in exports/imports—estimated at
$851 billion in 2003—by an additional $170 billion a year.

• In 2006, an estimated $699.5 billion of foreign investment was
present in China. A great deal of this investment came from Chinese-
speaking regions such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, who was the first to
invest in China. Japanese and Western investment followed.

So now its well clear to my readers about the encapsulated journey of
today's Chinese economy from the era of 1930.But all these were in the
initial days were only plans or policies. How did they materialize is
the point to be analyzed.

They have been materialized due to one single factor that is the
education. Education not only in schools and college levels, but also
to create the huge untapped potentiality of skilled and semi skilled
education and educated mass of population. We all know that china
posses one of the largest population. The world at times used to
critics this huge mounting population of china. But china and its
government's decades after decade have converted their biggest weak
point in to their biggest strength. Today china enjoys the huge
potentiality of its consumers and consumption.

It have created the largest pool of skilled and semi skilled workers
and employees .What we say in corporate term Blue Collard Jobs. China
has used its cheap commodity resources to create world best products
and cheap products. Educations particularly in science field have
helped china to become the supreme power of technology. China have
created the world finest products through its massive and continuous
never ending technological innovations. It have created scientist and
researchers equivalent to the western world. All these have been
created on the wheel of proper and improvised education system
provided by Chinese governments.

We have discussed many times a about the Chinese economic growth
models and the huge reserves and its stock gold piles. But among all
these the real growth model is the development of education system in
china. Its real wealthy citizens are the ones who gets education and
take the future responsibility of Chinese economy. China is making a
shift of its wealth. Its busy in shaping up the fortune of the
citizens of china.

If china have become the No.2 in Forbes billionaires list it ca be
clearly declared without any second thought that China deserves to be
crowned with No.2

Very recently china is going to bring a change in the education
system.

• China plans to revamp its university admissions system, allowing
students to take subject-specific tests.

• Currently access to university is entirely dependent on the score
students gets on a two-day test on a wide range of subjects.

• A little more than 10.2 million students take the exam each year,
and only about 25% of them get in. The vast majority of those who
don't make the cut go straight into the work force. China is trying to
bring change into its education system so that the vast majority can
reap the benefits of education. Moreover this will also increase the
talent pool of Chinese new generation. More White Collard Jobs will be
created resulting free dependence of the economy.

The schools and colleges have been asked to develop and promote
create thinking minds within the students. This will enable the future
growth of china. Just imagine when many countries in the west are busy
to resolve the post war situation and busy in exercising images of
super power, China is creating and shaping its future. China is
thinking way ahead of another 30years from now. Where as many
countries in the west who are busy to come out of the bad sins
committed through speculative economic and business growth modules
adopted by them.

China is thinking to develop the nation where ideas will be sold and
other economies will buy them paying hefty amount Products will be
replaced by ideas. A time might come when the Chinese economy will
increase the taxation for selling only innovative ideas. It might
sound funny but juts imagine the growth model and the future strategy
adopted and being implemented by china towards developing its economy.

It can be said that China is SHIFTING CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH. Western
economies will become 2nd rank economies and China will come under
developed economies rank.

Today after so many years US and other economies have identified that
the real growth of any economy lies in the hands of education system.
It can created speculative gains and growth for shorter time frame but
if its looks within the thin line of economic growth the results are
beyond speculation. Today the US government is buying in shaping up
the education system. It asks its citizens to create scientist doctors
and researchers. Since it feels very well that the in the coming
decade other economies will take over the super power crown.

Today US have realized the mistakes it have committed and now bringing
radical changes in the education system to shape up the future. Very
recently US is emphasizing to improve students and teachers instead of
punishing under performing schools. US have 33% under performing
schools. Unfortunately the list is increasing each day without
rewinding back. US is also going spend four-billion dollar more on
education system.

At the end I would like to conclude the series with this note that all
these analysis of the education system was not to criticize but to
bring forth the true portrait being painted by the world and China
alone in the coming decades. We must understand the growth of any
economy never lies in numbers. It lies among all of us who are juts
like you reading this article. It is we who will bring the economic
growth GDP to 20% in the next 3 decades from now. Its not the business
profit figures or the fiscal balance which will bring this growth.
Education is the foundation of economic growth of any nation on this
planet.

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A Slow Boat From China
Posted: March 19, 2010 at 5:08 am

China said it will send an envoy to Washington to discuss the friction
between the two countries over the value of the yuan. It will not
matter. Too many members of Congress, CEOs of major exporters, and
union presidents who use China’s trade practices as a target for their
plans to save millions of jobs need to get the yuan’s value to “float”
in the free market. That should, they reason, give America the chance
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President says will happen. China’s economy will be damaged because
the cost of its manufactured goods will rise. The day when China’s GDP
catches America’s will be pushed well beyond the horizon.
China’s leaders are clearly in the midst of trying to fashion some
compromise. The Emperor has had no clothes for too long. China has
protected its currency in an unseemly way, at least economically. The
world’s most populous nation can act on its own, or have the other
major world powers label it a currency manipulator. That will probably
lead to a series of large tariffs against Chinese goods which could
knock down its export traffic enough to put its economy into a funk.

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cannot re-value the yuan because the action would ruin China’s cost
advantage and push Chinese workers out of jobs.

China’s envoy may seem to come to Washington hat in hand. He may
suggest some modest compromises on the yuan’s value. He will, however,
say in private and not in public, that the US would not want to see
Walmart go out of business because it cannot make a profit on goods
made in America.

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March 19, 2010, 3:23 a.m. EDT
Currency stress tests indicate Beijing 'readying' yuan move

SocGen says one-off 5%-10% appreciation coming in April or May
By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Additional evidence that China is preparing
to allow its currency to appreciate is accumulating, with various
government bureaus reportedly conducting their own "stress tests" on
the effect a stronger currency would have on the nation's industry.

Chinese media reported earlier in the week that the Ministry of
Finance would send researchers to study the impact of currency gains
on exporters and processing manufacturers. Meanwhile, findings from a
similar study, conducted by the Ministry of Commerce, are due to be
released by April 27, according to a report Friday in China Business
News.

ViewPoints: China, the New Dominant Economy?

Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, David Rubenstein, predicts
that China will surpass the U.S. as the dominant economy by the year
2035, in a ViewPoints interview with Deputy Managing Editor Alan
Murray.

The Commerce Ministry is also readying a six-point study on measures
that would boost Chinese imports and foster more balanced foreign
trade, according to broker Société Générale.

"China is not abandoning plans for yuan appreciation/revaluation,
despite what many are interpreting as a political environment that is
growing hostile to such a development," wrote SocGen economist Glenn
Maguire in Hong Kong.

The developments, Maguire said, indicate China is preparing to shift
its policy stance in a manner that will be "more substantial" than a
mere gradual yuan appreciation.

Instead, SocGen is forecast a one-off revaluation of 5% to 10% in
either April or May.

"A move of this magnitude will negate the risk of the protectionist
card being played in the U.S. midterm elections," Maguire wrote.

However, Standard Chartered analysts said Friday markets were now
expecting a lower rate of annual yuan appreciation this week, likely
as a result of contradictory signals emanating from Beijing on its
currency.

The futures markets were pricing in 2.2% to 2.8% of annual yuan
appreciation against the dollar, down from the 3% rise indicated last
week.

Standard Chartered said it was advisable for companies that trade with
China to begin hedging currency risk.

State firms' profits up

In a related development Friday, the Finance Ministry said profit
among state-owned enterprises rose 89% in the first two months of the
year.

SocGen's Maguire said the finding was yet more evidence China's of a
coming move on the currency.

Profits were healthy, except among companies that would benefit from a
stronger yuan, Maguire said, adding that some state companies such as
power producers and steel makers would see input cost fall under a
revaluation scenario.

Steel mills in particular are likely to face price pressures, as major
iron-ore miners are seeking to raise prices significantly in this
year's contracts.

"The impressive increase in profits over the past year suggests a
greater ability of the Chinese industrial complex to withstand a yuan
appreciation than many analysts are crediting," Maguire said.

Chris Oliver is MarketWatch's Asia bureau chief, based in Hong Kong.

Comments (60)

Temporalist 6 hours ago+3 Votes (4 Up / 1 Dn)

Agreed Continent. The Chinese people will benefit from the increased
Yuan. They will start to buy their own goods and they will no longer
need to export as much.

This is just a red herring to distract people from the real problem
that most major countries around the world are broke and going more
broke; promising citizens more crazy entitlements and caving into
unions and labor forces while increasing debt and deficit spending to
all time highs.Reply Link Track Replies Report Abuse therosierside 3
hours ago+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn) Request sentAgree and Disagree. China
on the whole cannot afford their own products, and export of the
manufacturing of goods is their primary resource. I say call their
bluff. When push comes to shove, pull. However, I do agree, this is a
'red herring'. The irony drips in your statement.

Go ahead threaten away on the rise of the yuan. Ha, it's funny though.
It's like the U.S.S.R. all over again, and China got a taste for
capitalism, and the wealth from manufacturing. Their people will riot
if this happens, and their government is more scared of their own
people than the US. Power to the people!

The U.S. and the U.K. can make out on this the most, if they team up,
and remember their roots. It's amazing though, how we can easily shoot
straight, but might shoot ourselves in the foot instead. Let's also
not forget our arabic AND israeli allies. Power to the people!Reply
Link Track Replies Report Abuse iewgnem 2 hours ago0 Votes Request
sentA strong currency will enable Chinese consumers to buy more, but
if the US is any indication, what they buy might not be their own
goods.Reply

1REAGAN 6 hours ago-1 Vote (4 Up / 5 Dn)

The dollar is in free fall. If China were to continue pegging the
yuan, the result would be catastrophic. China must float the yuan.
Maybe it will help Americans to see that hussein is ruining the
American economy.

heisamazing 5 hours ago+1 Vote (3 Up / 2 Dn)

Yeah, don't let facts get in the way of an opinion. The dollar is not
in a free fall.

See 2 year graph: http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=dxy&sid=0&o_symb=dxy&freq=1&time=9

Its obvious where your bias lies.

1REAGAN 5 hours ago+1 Vote (4 Up / 3 Dn)

The dollar lost 30% versus the euro in 2009. The Keynesian huessy
policies will continue to weaken the dollar. The dollar is in free
fall.

The pound is also weakening because of the Keynesian policies of the
"British Labour Party."

Countries who implement socialist, Keynesian policies will have
weakening currencies. Countries who move toward free enterprise will
have strengthening currencies.

tjbrew 5 hours ago-1 Vote (3 Up / 4 Dn)

With a screen name like "1REAGAN", it's not hard to see your bias.
Yes, Reagan, the originator of large fiscal deficits and Reagonomics,
the start of the vast transfer of wealth to a few elite with "trickle
down" economics. If we just cut corporate taxes to zero that would fix
everything!

And the guy you're call "hussein" who in your opinion is "ruining the
American economy" ... yeah, the guy before him left the economy in
such great shape it's really hard to see why it hasn't all been fixed
by now! Sheesh ...

LBX 6 hours ago-1 Vote (1 Up / 2 Dn) Req

The RMB is likely to be floated in April.

Once it is floated, it will immediately DROP about 3 to 5%.

AmeriWho 5 hours agoEven (2 Up / 2 Dn)
RMB?

aiiiyo 2 hours ago+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)
same as Yuan
bull 6 hours ago+3 Votes (5 Up / 2 Dn)

China will not let the Yuan move more than 5% vs. the dollar per year
- forget about anything else as it will kill their export machine and
their grander plans......They do not care about the well being of
their people......they are just cheap labor in the Govt's mind.....

NO-FOMC 2 hours ago0 Votes Request senttrue maybe 10 years ago, and
yes i know that for a fact...but the bottom line is which is the
better of two evils....@#$%&! your reserves away by buying worthless
US assets (treasury debt) or help your domestic economy?

China realizes they are soooo done with eating table scraps from the
floor ...

iewgnem 2 hours ago0 Votes

I think a lot of Americans right now will rather see their welbeing
improve from getting employed as "cheap labor" making things for
exports than being able to buy more stuff from abroad with
unemployment checks. But then the US government cares too much for its
own people to let that happen.

UPJONES 5 hours ago+3 Votes (4 Up / 1 Dn)

The profit of the enterprise working on export processing business is
razor thin, at just about 2-5%. They will file bankruptcy right after
a 5% appreciation, and millions of Dagong Mei/Zai (Hunting girl/boys)
will lose their jobs.

China is buying time to do three things:

1. Build its domestic consumer market by increasing incomes/salaries

2. Perfecting the social secuity networks-Pension, Medicare and
apartments(Mostly for homeless)

3. Industrial transformation from manufacturing to innovation and
value added (Look at the neo-energy, nano, Aero, and especially bullet
trains, very competitve given the gov incentives and lots of "Cheap
and Good" engineers)

LBX 5 hours ago-1 Vote (1 Up / 2 Dn)

Many of them are actually getting negative gross margins. not to
mention net.

rojt88 4 hours ago+2 Votes (2 Up / 0 Dn)
LBX

The differences between Chinese and American accounting is caused by
pay differentials between the two cultures. Historically and
culturally, even dating back centuries, Mandarin officials and Chinese
executive pay is always held low. Much of this is due to Confucian
ethics and morality that wealth is not an indicator of success in
life. This is much different from the western ideal. Chinese
traditionally always hide income while American flaunt it.

Chinese businesses whose bosses serve for decades, like Hong Kong's Li
and Tung dynasties, always hide profits and exaggerate losses vs the
Western fashion of hiding loses and boosting profits so that rotating
CEOs can get their annual bonuses.

I estimate that the Chinese have 10-15% of their assets in hidden
accounts...or US$500billion (for PRC, HK, Taiwan). A lot of Chinese
inflation has been due to the sudden repatriation of much of this
offshore moneys into China due to financial instability in the west.

In a recent Chinese survey of foreign funds pouring into China over
the past decade, Hong Kong ranked first, then some islands in the
Caribbean ranked second and third. USA and Europe were last on the
list.

NO-FOMC 4 hours ago+1 Vote (2 Up / 1 Dn)

Funny how at the start of the century and after depression, USA had
the same characteristics...so where would you see china in 20+ years?
and where would you see USA in 20 years? remember..the world was
pegged to dollar gold before nixon. So last 20 years, our growth was
real or inflated?

NO-FOMC 2 hours ago+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)

US is buying time to avoid three things:

1. Financing a ever growing trade and acct deficit by depreciating the
USD to avoid default

2. Insure our world dominance by going to war so we wont lose our
world reserve currency title

3. the failure to realize a over leverage and underfunded US economy
will not be sustainable

Bastiat 5 hours ago+2 Votes (4 Up / 2 Dn)

Obama wants to run China. He found out that he could't run the US so
now he wants to run China. Obama, your problem is the US$, not the
yuan. You kept Bernanke, now deal with the imbecile.

RayO 5 hours agoEven (1 Up / 1 Dn)

Look out Walmart here comes a big Wave.

iewgnem 34 minutes ago0 Votes Request sentWhat if they simply
increase prices to maintain their margins? Considering in some
industries China consists of >90% of global output, it will still cost
importers less to absorb the cost than to spend billions in new
capital investments and time for production to ramp up. At the same
time re-exporters will see their material prices come down which will
also help to balance their margins.

All the talk about higher exchange rate driving Chinese exporters out
of business are assuming they don't have the power to pass the cost to
consumers on the other side. I suspect part of the stress test is to
see just how much they can raise the costs without losing their
business.Reply Link Track Replies Report Abuse « « ‹ ‹

Temporalist 6 hours ago+3 Votes (4 Up / 1 Dn)

Agreed Continent. The Chinese people will benefit from the increased
Yuan. They will start to buy their own goods and they will no longer
need to export as much.

This is just a red herring to distract people from the real problem
that most major countries around the world are broke and going more
broke; promising citizens more crazy entitlements and caving into
unions and labor forces while increasing debt and deficit spending to
all time highs.

therosierside 3 hours ago+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)

Agree and Disagree. China on the whole cannot afford their own
products, and export of the manufacturing of goods is their primary
resource. I say call their bluff. When push comes to shove, pull.
However, I do agree, this is a 'red herring'. The irony drips in your
statement.

Go ahead threaten away on the rise of the yuan. Ha, it's funny though.
It's like the U.S.S.R. all over again, and China got a taste for
capitalism, and the wealth from manufacturing. Their people will riot
if this happens, and their government is more scared of their own
people than the US. Power to the people!

The U.S. and the U.K. can make out on this the most, if they team up,
and remember their roots. It's amazing though, how we can easily shoot
straight, but might shoot ourselves in the foot instead. Let's also
not forget our arabic AND israeli allies. Power to the people!

iewgnem 2 hours ago0 Votes

A strong currency will enable Chinese consumers to buy more, but if
the US is any indication, what they buy might not be their own goods.

1REAGAN 6 hours ago-1 Vote (4 Up / 5 Dn)

The dollar is in free fall. If China were to continue pegging the
yuan, the result would be catastrophic. China must float the yuan.
Maybe it will help Americans to see that hussein is ruining the
American economy.

heisamazing 5 hours ago+1 Vote (3 Up / 2 Dn)

Yeah, don't let facts get in the way of an opinion. The dollar is not
in a free fall.

See 2 year graph: http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=dxy&sid=0&o_symb=dxy&freq=1&time=9

Its obvious where your bias lies.

1REAGAN 5 hours ago+1 Vote (4 Up / 3 Dn)

The dollar lost 30% versus the euro in 2009. The Keynesian huessy
policies will continue to weaken the dollar. The dollar is in free
fall.

The pound is also weakening because of the Keynesian policies of the
"British Labour Party."

Countries who implement socialist, Keynesian policies will have
weakening currencies. Countries who move toward free enterprise will
have strengthening currencies.Link Report Abuse tjbrew 5 hours ago-1
Vote (3 Up / 4 Dn) Request sentWith a screen name like "1REAGAN",
it's not hard to see your bias. Yes, Reagan, the originator of large
fiscal deficits and Reagonomics, the start of the vast transfer of
wealth to a few elite with "trickle down" economics. If we just cut
corporate taxes to zero that would fix everything!
And the guy you're call "hussein" who in your opinion is "ruining the
American economy" ... yeah, the guy before him left the economy in
such great shape it's really hard to see why it hasn't all been fixed
by now! Sheesh ...

LBX 6 hours ago-1 Vote (1 Up / 2 Dn)

The RMB is likely to be floated in April.

Once it is floated, it will immediately DROP about 3 to 5%.

AmeriWho 5 hours ago

Even (2 Up / 2 Dn)

aiiiyo 2 hours ago+1

same as Yuan

bullrunisbull 6 hours ago+3

China will not let the Yuan move more than 5% vs. the dollar per year
- forget about anything else as it will kill their export machine and
their grander plans......They do not care about the well being of
their people......they are just cheap labor in the Govt's mind.....

NO-FOMC 2 hours ago

true maybe 10 years ago, and yes i know that for a fact...but the
bottom line is which is the better of two evils....@#$%&! your
reserves away by buying worthless US assets (treasury debt) or help
your domestic economy?

China realizes they are soooo done with eating table scraps from the
floor ...R

I think a lot of Americans right now will rather see their welbeing
improve from getting employed as "cheap labor" making things for
exports than being able to buy more stuff from abroad with
unemployment checks. But then the US government cares too much for its
own people to let that happen.

UPJONES 5 hours ago+3 Votes (4 Up / 1 Dn)

The profit of the enterprise working on export processing business is
razor thin, at just about 2-5%. They will file bankruptcy right after
a 5% appreciation, and millions of Dagong Mei/Zai (Hunting girl/boys)
will lose their jobs.

China is buying time to do three things:

1. Build its domestic consumer market by increasing incomes/salaries

2. Perfecting the social secuity networks-Pension, Medicare and
apartments(Mostly for homeless)

3. Industrial transformation from manufacturing to innovation and
value added (Look at the neo-energy, nano, Aero, and especially bullet
trains, very competitve given the gov incentives and lots of "Cheap
and Good" engineers)

LBX 5 hours ago-1 Vote (1 Up / 2 Dn)

Many of them are actually getting negative gross margins. not to
mention net.

rojt88 4 hours ago+2 Votes (2 Up / 0 Dn)

LBX

The differences between Chinese and American accounting is caused by
pay differentials between the two cultures. Historically and
culturally, even dating back centuries, Mandarin officials and Chinese
executive pay is always held low. Much of this is due to Confucian
ethics and morality that wealth is not an indicator of success in
life. This is much different from the western ideal. Chinese
traditionally always hide income while American flaunt it.

Chinese businesses whose bosses serve for decades, like Hong Kong's Li
and Tung dynasties, always hide profits and exaggerate losses vs the
Western fashion of hiding loses and boosting profits so that rotating
CEOs can get their annual bonuses.

I estimate that the Chinese have 10-15% of their assets in hidden
accounts...or US$500billion (for PRC, HK, Taiwan). A lot of Chinese
inflation has been due to the sudden repatriation of much of this
offshore moneys into China due to financial instability in the west.

In a recent Chinese survey of foreign funds pouring into China over
the past decade, Hong Kong ranked first, then some islands in the
Caribbean ranked second and third. USA and Europe were last on the
list.

NO-FOMC 4 hours ago+1 Vote (2 Up / 1 Dn)

Funny how at the start of the century and after depression, USA had
the same characteristics...so where would you see china in 20+ years?
and where would you see USA in 20 years? remember..the world was
pegged to dollar gold before nixon. So last 20 years, our growth was
real or inflated?

NO-FOMC 2 hours ago+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)

US is buying time to avoid three things:

1. Financing a ever growing trade and acct deficit by depreciating the
USD to avoid default

2. Insure our world dominance by going to war so we wont lose our
world reserve currency title

3. the failure to realize a over leverage and underfunded US economy
will not be sustainable

Bastiat 5 hours ago+2 Votes (4 Up / 2 Dn)

Obama wants to run China. He found out that he could't run the US so
now he wants to run China. Obama, your problem is the US$, not the
yuan. You kept Bernanke, now deal with the imbecile.

RayO 5 hours agoEven (1 Up / 1 Dn) Re

Look out Walmart here comes a big Wave.

iewgnem 34 minutes ago

What if they simply increase prices to maintain their margins?
Considering in some industries China consists of >90% of global
output, it will still cost importers less to absorb the cost than to
spend billions in new capital investments and time for production to
ramp up. At the same time re-exporters will see their material prices
come down which will also help to balance their margins.

All the talk about higher exchange rate driving Chinese exporters out
of business are assuming they don't have the power to pass the cost to
consumers on the other side. I suspect part of the stress test is to
see just how much they can raise the costs without losing their
business.Reply Link Track Replies Report Abuse

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-stress-tests-suggest-yuan-rise-coming-2010-03-19?reflink=MW_news_stmp

March 19, 2010, 3:31 p.m. EDT

U.S. stocks break win streak on jitters over Greece, India, oil

By Donna Kardos Yesalavich, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A retreat in energy stocks weighed on the
broader market Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average stalling
in its attempt to set its longest winning streak in more than 13
years.

The energy sector was the weakest category in a broad-based sell-off
as oil prices retreated near $80 a barrel. Worries about key overseas
economies also weighed on the market, which some said was due for a
pause after a solid run lately.

TODAY'S TOP MARKET STORIES

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55637

The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed
(INDU 10,742, -37.41, -0.35%) fell 47 points, or 0.4%, to 10,731.93,
on pace to snap an eight-day winning streak, the first such run since
late August. A nine-day gain, if the Dow can manage a late-day
rebound, would represent the Dow's longest rally since November 1996.

A dive in energy prices fueled by an uptick in the dollar has made
that rosy outcome seem less likely as the session has played out. Oil
futures were recently off $1.75 at $80.45 a barrel after retreating
near $79 earlier in the session at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX
1,160, -5.92, -0.51%) , which slipped Thursday, recently was off 0.6%,
led by a 1.2% decline in its energy sector. Baker Hughes /quotes/
comstock/13*!bhi/quotes/nls/bhi (BHI 47.53, -1.84, -3.73%) slid 3.6%,
while Consol Energy /quotes/comstock/13*!cnx/quotes/nls/cnx (CNX
45.59, +0.04, +0.10%) and Massey Energy /quotes/comstock/13*!mee/
quotes/nls/mee (MEE 49.91, -1.74, -3.37%) were off more than 2% each.
Exxon Mobil /quotes/comstock/13*!xom/quotes/nls/xom (XOM 66.56, -0.48,
-0.72%) fell 1%, and Chevron /quotes/comstock/13*!cvx/quotes/nls/cvx
(CVX 74.17, -0.81, -1.08%) was down 0.6%.

"The commodities, like other risky assets, are taking a little bit of
a breather," said Russ Koesterich, managing director of BlackRock's
scientific active equity business. But he said it was encouraging that
both stocks and raw materials weren't declining even more.

"The market has had a big run-up, it's continuing to defy some of the
pessimists, and this happened on a bunch of factors," including benign
inflation readings and a decision by the Federal Reserve to keep its
rate target near zero, said Koesterich. "This is helping to keep a
floor under stocks."

Other central banks around the world, however, have become more wary
of inflation. On Friday, investors were spooked by the Reserve Bank of
India's move to increase its key lending rate to 5% and its borrowing
rate to 3.5%.

Uncertainty over possible financial aid for Greece also lingered,
hurting the euro. The U.S. dollar index /quotes/comstock/11j!i:dxy0
(DXY 80.75, +0.52, +0.65%) , which heavily weights the euro in a
basket of currencies versus the greenback, was recently up 0.6%. See
more in Currencies.

Indexes tracking higher-risk corners of the stock market fared worse
than the Dow and S&P. The Nasdaq Composite Index /quotes/comstock/10y!
i:comp (COMP 2,374, -16.87, -0.71%) was off 0.8%, while the Russell
2000 fell 1.2%.

Digits: Palm's Future in DoubtThe latest forecast and smart-phone
sales data from Palm is raising serious concerns about the company's
viability. Dow Jones Newswires' Roger Cheng joins Stacey Delo on
Digits to discuss. Plus, an unprecedented look at the finances behind
YouTube, the world's most successful video site, as well as the
growing number of vehicles offering a self-parking option.

The S&P's health-care sector was flat ahead of an expected weekend
vote on federal reforms.

"We've been significantly overweight in health care for many months
now with the expectation that when it passes -- good, bad or ugly --
that that certainty will allow the health-care stocks to breathe a
sigh of relief," said Harry Rady, chief executive and portfolio
manager of Rady Asset Management.

Among the sector's winners on Friday were UnitedHealth Group /quotes/
comstock/13*!unh/quotes/nls/unh (UNH 34.54, +0.15, +0.44%) and
WellPoint /quotes/comstock/13*!wlp/quotes/nls/wlp (WLP 65.19, +0.12,
+0.19%) , up more than 2% each. But Merck /quotes/comstock/13*!mrk/
quotes/nls/mrk (MRK 38.05, -0.01, -0.02%) slipped 1% after the Food
and Drug Administration warned about the increased risk of muscle
injury for patients taking an 80-milligram dose of its cholesterol
drug Zocor.

Among stocks to watch in other sectors, Boeing /quotes/comstock/13*!ba/
quotes/nls/ba (BA 71.34, +0.62, +0.87%) rose 0.9% after announcing
plans to increase production of its 777 and 747 aircraft earlier than
anticipated amid increasing demand. See more on Boeing.

Among stocks in focus, Palm /quotes/comstock/15*!palm/quotes/nls/palm
(PALM 4.02, +0.02, +0.44%) plunged 27%. The company reported a
narrower quarterly loss but warned of significantly lower revenue in
the current quarter amid disappointing sales of its latest
smartphones. Read more on Palm.

Trading volume was higher, with about 3.8 billion shares having
changed hands in New York Stock Exchange Composite volume recently,
compared with the recent full-day average of about 4.8 billion. The
increase came on so-called quadruple witching day, when contracts for
stock-index futures, stock-index options, stock options and single-
stock futures expire.

Treasury prices slipped. The 10-year note /quotes/comstock/31*!ust10y
(UST10Y 3.69, +0.01, +0.27%) fell 1/32 to yield 3.678%.

More Market Snapshot

March 18, 2010 U.S. stocks' uneven session extends Dow win streak
http://store.marketwatch.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PremiumNewsletters_CampaignTheTechnicalIndicator?dist=IYMLMSB1T
March 17, 2010 Dow win streak longest since August 2009
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-post-gains-in-early-trading-2010-03-17
March 16, 2010 U.S. stocks finish higher in cheering Fed
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-hold-near-flat-ahead-of-fed-2010-03-16
March 15, 2010 U.S. stocks make late-day rise, helped by Wal-Mart
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-mostly-lower-google-dips-wal-mart-up-2010-03-15
March 13, 2010 U.S. stock investors to use data as a road map
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-investors-to-use-data-as-a-road-map-2010-03-13

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-open-higher-led-by-boeing-2010-03-19

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Nadda resigns as HP minister to take up natl assignment
STAFF WRITER 15:59 HRS IST

Shimla, Mar 18 (PTI) Newly-appointed BJP general secretary Jagat
Prakash Nadda today resigned as cabinet minister in Himachal Pradesh
to take up his new assignment at the national level.

Nadda met Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in assembly and submitted
his resignation which was accepted.

"Yes I have submitted by resignation to the chief minister," Nadda
told PTI.

"I have asked him (Nadda) to continue till the ongoing budget session
of the assembly," Dhumal said.

Nadda in his letter to the CM said that since he has been appointed as
national general secretary of the BJP he was resigning from HP cabinet
in accordance with the party's policy of 'one man one post'.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/570541_Nadda-resigns-as-HP-minister-to-take-up-natl-assignment

JP Nadda resigns as Himachal cabinet minister
Posted by Ravinder Makhaik on Mar 18th, 2010

Shimla: Forest minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on being appointed as BJP
general secretary today submitted his resignation as a cabinet
minister in the Prem Kumar Dhumal ministry to take up his new
assignment at the national level.

Nadda met Dhumal in assembly today and submitted his resignation which
has been accepted.

“I have submitted by resignation to the chief minister,” Nadda
confirmed to My Himachal News.

“I have asked the forest minister to continue till the ongoing budget
session,” said the chief minister.

Nadda in his letter to the CM cited that since he had been appointed
national general secretary of party he was resigning from HP cabinet
in accordance with the party’s declared policy of ‘one man one post’.

http://himachal.us/2010/03/18/jp-nadda-resigns-as-himachal-cabinet-minister/19150/news/ravinder

Day curfew lifted in Bareilly
STAFF WRITER 12:37 HRS IST

Bareilly, Mar 20 (PTI) With the situation improving in riot-hit areas,
day curfew has been lifted in the city.

"The situation is completely normal and day curfew in five police
areas - Prem Nagar, Qila, Baradari, Kotwali and Subhash Nagar - has
been lifted between 5 am to 10 pm," officials said.

The situation had become a bit tense yesterday after six statues were
allegedly stolen from the ancient Jagganath Puri temple in Bada Bazar
area.

Protesting against the theft, members of a community blocked road,
which was later lifted on the assurance that the guilty would be
arrested soon.

Curfew was clamped in four of the six police areas of the city on
March 2 in the wake of communal clashes over a barawafat procession.It
was later extended to one more police area after fresh violence on
March 11.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/573674_Day-curfew-lifted-in-Bareilly

BJP demands Raj Home Minister's resignation
STAFF WRITER 23:7 HRS IST

Jaipur, Mar 19 (PTI) Holding statewide protests, BJP today demanded
the resignation of Rajasthan Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal, alleging
he had threatened its MLAs in the legislative assembly.

"Besides Dhariwal's resignation, the Congress government should revoke
the suspension of two MLAs -- R S Rathore (whip) and Hanuman Beniwal
-- who were suspended in previous two sittings of the House," Arun
Chaturvedi, its state president, told a press conference here.

The Leader of the House and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has not been
present in the House for the last two days and should attempt to break
the deadlock, Chaturvedi said.

"If this is not done on March 22, the BJP will hold 'Jail Bharo' in
all district headquarters," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Vasundhara Raje alleged the state
government's repressive tactics in the assembly were a reminder of the
British period.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/573450_BJP-demands-Raj-Home-Minister-s-resignation

Praveen Togadia held for trying to walk into Kandhamal
STAFF WRITER 0:22 HRS IST

Bhubaneswar, Mar 19 (PTI) Firebrand VHP leader Praveen Togadia was
tonight arrested alongwith his supporters by the Orissa Police as they
tried to enter riot-hit Kandhamal district, defying a ban on their
visit.

Togadia, who arrived at Charichowk in Boudh district, neighbouring
Kandhamal, was held under Section 151 of the CrPc when they tried to
walk into Kandhamal district despite a ban, police said.

After they were asked not to proceed to the district, they initially
held a sit-in protest at Charichowk.

The VHP leader is now lodged at the forest inspection bungalow at
Charichowk, Lambodar Buda, Inspector-in-charge of Boudh police
station, said.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/573518_Praveen-Togadia-held-for-trying-to-walk-into-Kandhamal

Togadia released by Orissa Police
STAFF WRITER 12:11 HRS IST

Phulbani (Orissa), Mar 20 (PTI) Fireband VHP leader Praveen Togadia,
who was arrested while trying to enter riot-hit Kandhamal district
despite prohibitory orders, was today released by Orissa Police.

"Togadia was released on a bond and he left for Bhanjanagar in Ganjam
district," Kandhamal SP Pravin Kumar said.

The VHP leader was arrested last night under Section 151 of the CrPC
when he tried to walk into Kandhamal, along with supporters.

Earlier the state government had put a ban on Togadia's visit in view
of the communally-fragile nature of the district, which had seen
largescale communal violence in the wake of killing of VHP leader
Lakhsmananda Saraswati in August 2008.

Meanwhile, the district VHP unit of Kandhamal organised a 12-hour
bandh protesting Togadia's arrest.

While all shops and business establishments were closed, educational
institutions and government offices functioned as usual, police said.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/573641_Togadia-released-by-Orissa-Police

Shahnawaz not to attend BJP spokespersons' meet
STAFF WRITER 14:12 HRS IST

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, who is
reportedly sulking after he was overlooked for the post of general
secretary by party president Nitin Gadkari, is likely to keep away
from a meeting of new spokespersons convened today by Leader of
Opposition Sushma Swaraj.

Swaraj is holding a meeting of the seven BJP spokespersons to decide
allocation of work and brief them about their new job.

Sources said the meeting was being held at the behest of Chief
Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad who is keen on getting his new team
cracking without any delay.

Sources close to Hussain said he is likely to keep away from the
meeting but insisted that this is due to his ill-health.

"He is a disciplined soldier of the party and will go with whatever
the party decides.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/572096_Shahnawaz-not-to-attend-BJP-spokespersons--meet

Dissent in BJP over Gadkari\’s new team – IBNLive.com
Published by admin on March 19, 2010 filed under Asian News
Headlines · Comments (0) The Hindu Dissent in BJP over Gadkari’s
new team IBNLive.com BJP’s latest worries- party President Nitin
Gadkari’s honeymoon period is over. His first challange will be Bihar-
and state party leaders anger might cost the party dearly as Bihar
will be going to polls later this year. Shatrughan Sinha and CP Thakur
… Everyone can’t be satisfied: Gadkari about dissent over his team
Economic Times Shatrughan vents ire at not being included in Nitin
Gadkari’s team Daily News & Analysis Dissent in BJP over Gadkari’s new
team India Today NDTV.com

http://asia.getsomenews.com/2010/03/19/dissent-in-bjp-over-gadkaris-new-team-ibnlive-com/

Raise complaints with me, not media: Gadkari
on March 19th, 2010

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Friday asked
party leaders to raise any complaints about his choice of a new team
with him and not with the media.


“Those who have complaints about the new team should speak to me, not
the media,” Gadkari told the NDTV news channel, a day after actor-
turned-party MP Shatrughan Sinha’s remarks on the composition of the
new team of office-bearers announced Tuesday.

Sinha Thursday recited the lyrics of an old Hindi film song in answer
to a question about the new team. “Uff na karenge, lab see lenge,
aansu pee lenge (I will not sigh, will seal my lips and swallow my
tears),” he said, expressing disappointment that leaders like Yashwant
Sinha had been left out and the team had not been able to give a
message of dynamism.

“It’s wrong to say that Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie were excluded
because they are Advani detractors… It’s not possible to include
everyone on the team,” Gadkari said.

The BJP president also justified the appointment of Nehru-Gandhi
family member Varun Gandhi as party secretary, saying: “Varun Gandhi
should be given a chance, why hold the past against him?”

The party had sought to distance itself from Varun Gandhi after he
allegedly made inflammatory remarks during the Lok Sabha election
campaign last year.

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Aryan race
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with "Arianism" which was an early non-trinitarian
form of Christianity.

This article is about the racial theory. For the full range of
meanings of "Aryan", see Aryan. For Hindu, Buddhist, Zoroastrian and
Jain spiritual interpretations, see Arya. For other uses, see Aryan
(disambiguation).
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in European
culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-
European languages and their descendants up to the present day
constitute a distinctive race or subrace of the larger Caucasian race.
[1]

While originally meant simply as a neutral ethnic classification, it
was later used for political racism in Nazi and neo-Nazi ideological
form. It became a concept of scientific racism, and hence also in
other currents such as occultism and white supremacism.

Belief in the existence of an Aryan race is sometimes referred to as
Aryanism.

Origin of the term

Main article: Aryan
See also: Arya

The earliest epigraphically-attested reference to the word arya occurs
in the 6th century Behistun inscription, which describes itself to
have been composed "in arya [language or script]" (§ 70). As is also
the case for all other Old Iranian language usage, the arya of the
inscription does not signify anything but "Iranian".[2]
The region Aria as depicted by Waldseemuller in 1507The term Aryan
originates from the Sanskrit word arya, attested in the ancient texts
of Hinduism such as the Rigveda. Arya in Sanskrit holds the meaning
civilized or simply referring to an individual of higher
consciousness.

In the 18th century, the most ancient known Indo-European languages
were those of the Indo-Iranians' ancestors. The word Aryan was adopted
to refer not only to the Indo-Iranian people, but also to native Indo-
European speakers as a whole, including the Albanians, Kurds,
Armenians, Greeks, Latins, and Germans. It was soon recognised that
Balts, Celts, and Slavs also belonged to the same group. It was argued
that all of these languages originated from a common root—now known as
Proto-Indo-European—spoken by an ancient people who must have been the
original ancestors of the European, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan peoples.
The ethnic group composed of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and their modern
descendants was termed the Aryans.

This usage was common in the late 19th and early 20th century. An
example of an influential best-selling book that reflects this usage
is the 1920 book The Outline of History by H. G. Wells.[3] In it he
wrote of the accomplishments of the Aryan people, stating how they
"learned methods of civilization" while "Sargon II and Sardanapalus
were ruling in Assyria and fighting with Babylonia and Syria and
Egypt". As such, Wells suggested that the Aryans had eventually
"subjugated the whole ancient world, Semitic, Aegean and Egyptian
alike".[4] In the 1944 edition of Rand McNally’s World Atlas, the
Aryan race is depicted as being one of the ten major racial groupings
of mankind.[5] The science fiction author Poul Anderson (1926–2001),
an anti-racist Libertarian of Scandinavian ancestry, in his many
novels, novellas, and short stories, consistently used the term Aryan
as a synonym for Indo-Europeans. He spoke of the Aryan bird of prey
which impelled those of the Aryan race to take the lead in developing
interstellar travel, colonize habitable planets in other planetary
systems and become leading business entrepreneurs on the newly
colonized planets.[6]

The use of "Aryan" as a synonym for "Indo-European" or to a lesser
extent for "Indo-Iranian", is regarded today by many as obsolete and
politically incorrect, but may still occasionally appear in material
based on older scholarship, or written by persons accustomed to older
usage, such as in a 1989 article in Scientific American by Colin
Renfrew in which he uses the word "Aryan" in its traditional meaning
as a synonym for "Indo-European".[7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Iranian_peoples

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_American

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Renfrew

19th-century physical anthropology

Main article: Caucasian race
See also: scientific racism

The 4th edition of Meyers Konversationslexikon (Leipzig, 1885-1890)
shows the Caucasian race (in blue) as comprising Aryans, Semites and
Hamites. Aryans are further subdivided into European Aryans and Indo-
Aryans (the latter corresponding to the group now designated Indo-
Iranians).In 19th century physical anthropology, represented by some
as being scientific racism, the "Aryan race" was considered a subgroup
of the Caucasian (or Europid) race, essentially corresponding to the
speakers of Indo-European languages native to Europe, Persia and the
Indo-Gangetic plain in South Asia.

The original 19th-century and early 20th-century use of the term Aryan
referred to "the early speakers of Proto-Indo European and their
descendents".[8][9] Max Müller is often identified as the first writer
to speak of an Aryan "race" in English. In his Lectures on the Science
of Language in 1861[10] he referred to Aryans as a "race of people".
At the time, the term race had the meaning of "a group of tribes or
peoples, an ethnic group".[11]

When Müller's statement was interpreted to imply a biologically
distinct sub-group of humanity, he soon clarified that he simply meant
a line of descent, insisting that it was very dangerous to mix
linguistics and anthropology. "The Science of Language and the Science
of Man cannot be kept too much asunder ... I must repeat what I have
said many times before, it would be wrong to speak of Aryan blood as
of dolichocephalic grammar".[12] He restated his opposition to this
method in 1888 in his essay Biographies of words and the home of the
Aryas.[10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_M%C3%BCller

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalic_index

Müller was responding to the development of racial anthropology, and
the influence of the work of Arthur de Gobineau who argued that the
Indo-Europeans represented a superior branch of humanity. A number of
later writers, such as the French anthropologist Vacher de Lapouge in
his book L'Aryen, argued that this superior branch could be identified
biologically by using the cephalic index (a measure of head shape) and
other indicators. He argued that the long-headed "dolichocephalic-
blond" Europeans, characteristically found in northern Europe, were
natural leaders, destined to rule over more "brachiocephalic" (short
headed) peoples.[13].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_de_Gobineau

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacher_de_Lapouge

The division of the Caucasian race into Aryans, Semites and Hamites is
in origin linguistic, not based on physical anthropology, the division
in physical anthropology being that into Nordic, Alpine and
Mediterranean. However, the linguistic classification of "Aryan"
became closely associated, and conflated, with the classification of
"Nordic".

This claim became increasingly important during the 19th century. In
the mid-19th century, it was commonly believed that the Aryans
originated in the southwestern steppes of present-day Russia. However,
by the late 19th century the steppe theory of Aryan origins was
challenged by the view that the Aryans originated in ancient Germany
or Scandinavia, or at least that in those countries the original Aryan
ethnicity had been preserved. The German origin of the Aryans was
especially promoted by the archaeologist Gustaf Kossinna, who claimed
that the Proto-Indo-European peoples were identical to the Corded Ware
culture of Neolithic Germany. This idea was widely circulated in both
intellectual and popular culture by the early twentieth century,[14]
and is reflected in the concept of "Corded-Nordics" in Carleton S.
Coon's 1939 The Races of Europe.

Other anthropologists contested such claims. In Germany, Rudolf
Virchow launched a study of craniometry, which prompted him to
denounce "Nordic mysticism" in the 1885 Anthropology Congress in
Karlsruhe, while Josef Kollmann, a collaborator of Virchow, stated in
the same congress that the people of Europe, be they English, German,
French, and Spaniard belonged to a "mixture of various races,"
furthermore declaring that the "results of craniology...[are] against
any theory concerning the superiority of this or that European race"
to others.[10]

Virchow's contribution to the debate sparked a controversy. Houston
Stewart Chamberlain, a strong supporter of the theory of a superior
Aryan race, attacked Josef Kollmann arguments in detail. While the
"Aryan race" theory remained popular, particularly in Germany, some
authors defended Virchow's perspective, in particular Otto Schrader,
Rudolph von Jhering and the ethnologist Robert Hartmann (1831–1893),
who proposed to ban the notion of "Aryan" from anthropology.[10]

Indo-Aryan migration

Main article: Indo-Aryan migration
See also: Out of India theory

Models of the Indo-Aryan migration discuss scenarios of prehistoric
migrations of the early Indo-Aryans to their historically attested
areas of settlement in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent and
from there further across all of North India. Claims of Indo-Aryan
migration are primarily drawn from linguistic[15] evidence but also
from a multitude of data stemming from genetics,[16] Vedic religion,
rituals, poetics as well as some aspects of social organization and
chariot technology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_period

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas

All discussion of historical Indo-Aryan migrations or Aryan and
Dravidian races remains highly controversial in India to this day, and
continues to affect political and religious debate. Some Dravidians,
and supporters of the Dalit movement, most commonly Tamils, claim that
the worship of Shiva is a distinct Dravidian religion going back to
the Indus Civilization,[17] to be distinguished from Brahminical
"Aryan" Hinduism. In contrast, the Indian nationalist Hindutva
movement argues that no Aryan invasion or migration ever occurred,
asserting that Vedic beliefs emerged from the Indus Valley
Civilisation,[18] which pre-dated the supposed advent of the Indo-
Aryans in India, and is identified as a likely candidate for a Proto-
Dravidian culture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalitstan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindutva

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Dravidian

Some Indians were also influenced by the debate about the Aryan race
during the British Raj. The Indian nationalist V. D. Savarkar believed
in the theory that an "Aryan race" migrated to India,[19] but he
didn't find much value in a racialized interpretation of the "Aryan
race".[20] Some Indian nationalists supported the British version of
the theory because it gave them the prestige of common descent with
the ruling British class.[21]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._D._Savarkar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racialized

Genetic studies

A genetic study in the year 2000 in Andhra Pradesh state of India
found that the upper caste Hindus were closer relatives to Eastern-
Europeans than to Hindus from lower castes.[22] However, a study
conducted by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2009 (in
collaboration with Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public
Health and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT) analyzed half a
million genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25
ethnic groups from 13 states in India across multiple caste groups.
[23] The study asserts, based on the impossibility of identifying any
genetic indicators across caste lines, that castes in South Asia grew
out of traditional tribal organizations during the formation of Indian
society, and was not the product of any Aryan invasion and
"subjugation" of Dravidian people.[24]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_for_Cellular_and_Molecular_Biology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Medical_School

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_School_of_Public_Health


Occultism

Theosophy

Mme. Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, a lawyer, agricultural expert,
and journalist who covered the Spiritualist phenomena.Main article:
Root race
These debates were addressed within the Theosophical movement founded
by Helena Blavatsky and Henry Olcott at the end of the nineteenth
century. This philosophy took inspiration from Indian culture, in this
case, perhaps, from the Hindu reform movement the Arya Samaj founded
by Swami Dayananda.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Blavatsky

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Steel_Olcott

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arya_Samaj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Dayananda

Blavatsky argued that humanity had descended from a series of "Root
Races", naming the fifth root race (out of seven) the Aryan Race. She
thought that the Aryans originally came from Atlantis and described
the Aryan races with the following words:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_Race

"The Aryan races, for instance, now varying from dark brown, almost
black, red-brown-yellow, down to the whitest creamy colour, are yet
all of one and the same stock -- the Fifth Root-Race -- and spring
from one single progenitor, (...) who is said to have lived over
18,000,000 years ago, and also 850,000 years ago -- at the time of the
sinking of the last remnants of the great continent of Atlantis."[25]
Blavatsky used "Root Race" as a technical term to describe human
evolution over the large time periods in her cosmology. However, she
also claimed that there were modern non-Aryan peoples who were
inferior to Aryans. She regularly contrasts "Aryan" with "Semitic"
culture, to the detriment of the latter, asserting that Semitic
peoples are an offshoot of Aryans who have become "degenerate in
spirituality and perfected in materiality."[26] She also states that
some peoples are "semi-animal creatures". These latter include "the
Tasmanians, a portion of the Australians and a mountain tribe in
China." There are also "considerable numbers of the mixed Lemuro-
Atlantean peoples produced by various crossings with such semi-human
stocks -- e.g., the wild men of Borneo, the Veddhas of Ceylon, classed
by Prof. Flower among Aryans (!), most of the remaining Australians,
Bushmen, Negritos, Andaman Islanders, etc."[27]

Despite this, Blavatsky's admirers claim that her thinking was not
connected to fascist or racialist ideas, asserting that she believed
in a Universal Brotherhood of humanity and wrote that "all men have
spiritually and physically the same origin" and that "mankind is
essentially of one and the same essence".[28] On the other hand, in
The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky states: "Verily mankind is 'of one
blood,' but not of the same essence."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Brotherhood

Blavatsky connects physical race with spiritual attributes constantly
throughout her works:

"Esoteric history teaches that idols and their worship died out with
the Fourth Race, until the survivors of the hybrid races of the latter
(Chinamen, African Negroes, &c.) gradually brought the worship back.
The Vedas countenance no idols; all the modern Hindu writings do".
[29]
"The intellectual difference between the Aryan and other civilized
nations and such savages as the South Sea Islanders, is inexplicable
on any other grounds. No amount of culture, nor generations of
training amid civilization, could raise such human specimens as the
Bushmen, the Veddhas of Ceylon, and some African tribes, to the same
intellectual level as the Aryans, the Semites, and the Turanians so
called. The 'sacred spark' is missing in them and it is they who are
the only inferior races on the globe, now happily -- owing to the wise
adjustment of nature which ever works in that direction -- fast dying
out. Verily mankind is 'of one blood,' but not of the same essence. We
are the hot-house, artificially quickened plants in nature, having in
us a spark, which in them is latent".[30]
According to Blavatsky, "the MONADS of the lowest specimens of
humanity (the "narrow-brained" savage South-Sea Islander, the African,
the Australian) had no Karma to work out when first born as men, as
their more favoured brethren in intelligence had".[31]

She also prophecies of the destruction of the racial "failures of
nature" as the future "higher race" ascends:

"Thus will mankind, race after race, perform its appointed cycle-
pilgrimage. Climates will, and have already begun, to change, each
tropical year after the other dropping one sub-race, but only to beget
another higher race on the ascending cycle; while a series of other
less favoured groups -- the failures of nature -- will, like some
individual men, vanish from the human family without even leaving a
trace behind".[32]
It is interesting to note that the second subrace of the Fifth or
Aryan root race, the Arabian, is regarded by Theosophists as one of
the Aryan subraces. It is believed by Theosophists that the Arabians,
although asserted in traditional Theosophy to be of Aryan (i.e., Indo-
European) ancestry, adopted the Semitic language of the people around
them who had migrated earlier from Atlantis (the fifth or (original)
Semite subrace of the Atlantean root race). Theosophists assert that
the Jews originated as an offshoot of the Arabian subrace in what is
now Yemen about 30,000 BC. They migrated first to Somalia and then
later to Egypt where they lived until the time of Moses. Thus,
according to the teachings of Theosophy, the Jews are part of the
Aryan race.[33]

Ariosophy

Main article: Ariosophy

Guido von List (and his followers such as Lanz von Liebenfels) later
took up some of Blavatsky's ideas, mixing her ideology with
nationalistic and fascist ideas; this system of thought became known
as Ariosophy. It was believed in Ariosophy that the Teutonics were
superior to all other peoples because according to Theosophy the
Teutonics or Nordics were the most recent subrace of the Aryan root
race to have evolved.[34] Such views also fed into the development of
Nazi ideology. Theosophical publications such as The Aryan Path were
strongly opposed to the Nazi usage, attacking racialism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_von_List

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanz_von_Liebenfels

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariosophy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aryan_Path

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racialism

The idea of the Northern origins of the Aryans was particularly
influential in Germany. It was widely believed that the "Vedic Aryans"
were ethnically identical to the Goths, Vandals and other ancient
Germanic peoples of the Völkerwanderung. This idea was often
intertwined with anti-Semitic ideas. The distinctions between the
"Aryan" and "Semitic" peoples were based on the aforementioned
linguistic and ethnic history.

Semitic peoples came to be seen as a foreign presence within Aryan
societies, and the Semitic peoples were often pointed to as the cause
of conversion and destruction of social order and values leading to
culture and civilization's downfall by proto-Nazi and Nazi theorists
such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Alfred Rosenberg.

According to the adherents to Ariosophy, the Aryan was a "master race"
that built a civilization that dominated the world from Atlantis about
ten thousand years ago. This alleged civilization declined when other
parts of the world were colonized after the 8,000 BC destruction of
Atlantis because the inferior races mixed with the Aryans but it left
traces of their civilization in Tibet (via Buddhism), and even in
Central America, South America, and Ancient Egypt. (The date of 8,000
BC for the destruction of Atlantis in Ariosophy is 2,000 years later
than the date of 10,000 BC given for this event in Theosophy.) These
theories affected the more esotericist strand of Nazism.

A complete, highly speculative theory of Aryan and anti-Semitic
history can be found in Alfred Rosenberg's major work, The Myth of the
Twentieth Century. Rosenberg's well-researched account of ancient
history, melded with his racial speculations, proved to be very
effective in spreading racialism among German intellectuals in the
early twentieth century, especially after the First World War.

These and other ideas evolved into the Nazi use of the term "Aryan
race" to refer to what they saw as being a master race of people of
northern European descent. They worked to maintain the purity of this
race through eugenics programs (including anti-miscegenation
legislation, compulsory sterilization of the mentally ill and the
mentally deficient, the execution of the institutionalized mentally
ill as part of a euthanasia program).

Heinrich Himmler (the Reichsführer of the SS), the person ordered by
Adolf Hitler to implement the final solution (Holocaust), told his
personal masseur Felix Kersten that he always carried with him a copy
of the ancient Aryan scripture, the Bhagavad Gita because it relieved
him of guilt about what he was doing — he felt that like the warrior
Arjuna, he was simply doing his duty without attachment to his actions.
[35]

Himmler was also interested in Buddhism and his institute Ahnenerbe
sought to mix some traditions from Hinduism and Buddhism.[36] Himmler
sent a 1939 German expedition to Tibet as part of his research into
Aryan origins.

Neo-Nazism

The Sun wheel is used as the symbol of the Aryan raceSince the
military defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allies in 1945, some neo-Nazis
have expanded their concept of the Aryan race, moving from the Nazi
concept that the purest Aryans were the Teutonics or Nordics of
Northern Europe to the idea that the true Aryans are everyone
descended from the Western or European branch of the Indo-European
peoples.[citation needed] "Moderate" "white nationalists" who embrace
what is called pan-Aryanism want to establish a democratically
governed Aryan Federation.[37] On the other hand, according to
Nicholas Goodrick-Clark, many neo-Nazis want to establish an
autocratic state modeled after Nazi Germany to be called the Western
Imperium.[38]

This proposed state would be led by a Führer-like figure called the
Vindex, and would include all areas inhabited by the Aryan race
(defined as non-Jews of European ancestry), i.e. Europe (includes all
of Russia), Anglo-America, South Africa (may include Rhodesia (now
called Zimbabwe)) with its white minority, Australia, New Zealand, and
southern South America (that is Chile, Argentina, eastern Bolivia,
southern Brazil, Uruguay, and possibly Paraguay.) Only those of the
Aryan race would be full citizens of the state. The Western Imperium
would embark on a vigorous and dynamic program of space exploration.
The concept of the Western Imperium as outlined in the previous three
sentences is based on the original concept of the Imperium as outlined
in the 1947 book Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics by
Francis Parker Yockey as further updated, extended and refined in the
early 1990s in pamphlets published by David Myatt. [39][40][41]

Various concepts of Aryanism and how they should be implemented are
debated on the Stormfront website.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Parker_Yockey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Myatt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormfront_(website)

Tempelhofgesellschaft

A neo-Nazi esoteric Nazi Gnostic sect headquartered in Vienna, Austria
called the Tempelhofgesellschaft, founded in the early 1990s, teaches
a form of what it calls Marcionism. They distribute pamphlets claiming
that the Aryan race originally came to Atlantis from the star
Aldebaran.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Nazi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esoteric_Nazism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnostic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-volkisch_movements#Tempelhofgesellschaft_.28Gnostic_sect.29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcionism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_race#The_civilization_of_Atlantis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldebaran

See also

Anatolian hypothesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolian_hypothesis
Aryan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan
Germanic peoples
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples
Indo-Aryan migrations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Aryan_migrations
Nordic theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_theory
Nordic race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_race
Proto-Indo-Europeans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-Europeans
Indo-European language family
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_language_family
Kurgan hypothesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurgan_hypothesis
Race Life of the Aryan Peoples
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Life_of_the_Aryan_Peoples
Scandinavism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavism
White nationalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nationalism
White supremacy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_supremacy

Philosophical:

Esotericism in Germany and Austria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esotericism_in_Germany_and_Austria
Thule Society
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Society
Germanic Neopaganism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_Neopaganism
Neo-völkisch movements
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-v%C3%B6lkisch_movements

Third Reich specific:

Aryanization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryanization
Aryan paragraph
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_paragraph
Honorary Aryan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_Aryan
Ahnenpass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahnenpass
Aryan Games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_Games

Contemporaneous concepts of race:

Alpine race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_race
Armenoid race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenoid_race
Dinaric race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinaric_race
East Baltic race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Baltic_race
Iranid race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranid_race
Mediterranean race
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_race

References

Constructs such as ibid., op. cit. and loc. cit. are discouraged by
Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes as they are easily broken.
Please improve this article by replacing them with named references
(quick guide), or an abbreviated title.

^ Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief Webster's Tenth New Collegiate
Dictionary Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.:1994--Merriam-Webster
See original definition (definition #1) of "Aryan" in English--Page
66
^ cf. Gershevitch, Ilya (1968), "Old Iranian Literature", Handbuch der
Orientalistik, Literatur I, Leiden: Brill, pp. 1–31 , p. 2.
^ Wells, H.G. The Outline of History New York:1920 Doubleday & Co.
Chapter 19 The Aryan Speaking Peoples in Pre-Historic Times Pages
271-285
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outline_of_History
^ H.G. Wells describes the origin of the Aryans (Proto-Indo
Europeans):
http://www.bartleby.com/86/19.html
^ Rand McNally’s World Atlas International Edition Chicago:1944 Rand
McNally Map: "Races of Mankind" Pages 278–279--In the explanatory
section below the map, the Aryan race (the word “Aryan” being defined
in the description below the map as a synonym for “Indo-Europeans”) is
described as being one of the ten major racial groupings of mankind.
Each of the ten racial groupings is depicted in a different color on
the map and the estimated populations in 1944 of the larger racial
groups except the Dravidians are given (the Dravidian population in
1944 would have been about 70,000,000). The other nine groups are
depicted as being the Semitic race (the Aryans (850,000,000) and the
Semites (70,000,000) are described as being the two main branches of
the Caucasian race), the Dravidian race, the Mongolian race
(700,000,000), the Malayan race (Correct population given on page
413--64,000,000 including half of the Malay States, Micronesia, and
Polynesia), the American Indian race (10,000,000), the Negro race
(140,000,000), the Native Australians, the Papuans, and the Hottentots
and Bushmen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidian_race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoloid_race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_people_of_the_Americas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australoid_race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australoid_race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoid_race

^ See, for example, the Poul Anderson short stories in the 1964
collection Time and Stars and the Polesotechnic League stories
featuring Nicholas van Rijn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_Stars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_van_Rijn
^ Renfrew, Colin. (1989). The Origins of Indo-European Languages. /
Scientific American/, 261(4), 82-90.
^ Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief Webster's Tenth New Collegiate
Dictionary Springfield, Massachuetts, U.S.A.:1994--Merriam-Webster
Page 66
^ Widney, Joseph P Race Life of the Aryan Peoples New York: Funk &
Wagnalls. 1907 In Two Volumes: Volume One--The Old World Volume Two--
The New World ISBN B000859S6O
http://books.google.com/books?id=s9UKAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage#v=onepage&q=&f=false

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pomeroy_Widney
^ a b c d Andrea Orsucci, "Ariani, indogermani, stirpi mediterranee:
aspetti del dibattito sulle razze europee (1870-1914)", in Cromohs,
1998 (Italian)
http://www.cromohs.unifi.it/3_98/orsucci.html
^ OED under race, n.6 I.1.c has "A group of several tribes or peoples,
regarded as forming a distinct ethnic set. Esp. used in 19th-cent.
anthropological classification, sometimes in conjunction with
linguistic groupings."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OED
^ Speech before the University of Stassbourg, 1872, Chaudhuri, Nirad,
Scholar Extraordinary: The Life of Professor the Rt. Hon. Freidrich
Max Muller, Chatto and Windus, 1974, p.313
^ Vacher de Lapouge (trans Clossen, C), Georges (1899). "Old and New
Aspects of the Aryan Question". The American Journal of Sociology 5
(3): 329–346. .
^ Arvidsson, Stefan (2006). Aryan Idols. USA: University of Chicago
Press, 143. ISBN 0-226-02860-7.
^ The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration
Debate, Edwin Bryant, 2001
^ Trivedi, Bijal P (2001-05-14). [http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/
articles/05_01/Indo-European.shtml "Genetic evidence suggests European
migrants may have influenced the origins of India's caste system"].
Genome News Network (J. Craig Venter Institute).
http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/05_01/Indo-European.shtml.
Retrieved 2005-01-27.
^ It is claimed that the Pashupati seal represents Shiva. J. Marshall
1931: Vol. 1, 52-55. Mohenjo-Daro and the IVC. London: Arthur
Probsthain.
^ Although most pro-Aryan migration theory scholars also agree that a
part of the IVC culture has influenced Hinduism. Renfrew says: "it is
difficult to see what is particularly non-Aryan about the Indus Valley
Civilization. Renfrew 1988:188-190. Archaeology and Language. New
York: Cambridge University Press
^ Bryant 2001:271, Talageri 2000. The Rigveda.
^ After all there is throughout this world so far as man is concerned
but a single race - the human race, kept alive by one common blood,
the human blood. All other talk is at best provisional, a makeshift
and only relatively true. (...) Even as it is, not even the aborigines
of the Andamans are without some sprinkling of the so-called Aryan
blood in their veins and vice-versa. Truly speaking all that one can
claim is that one has the blood of all mankind in one’s veins. The
fundamental unity of man from pole to pole is true, all else only
relatively so. Savarkar: "Hindutva". Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,
Savarkar Samagra: Complete Works of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 10
volumes, ISBN 81-7315-331-0
^ Erdosy 1995:21, The Indo-Aryans of ancient South Asia.
^ http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11381027
^ Indians are one people descended from two tribes
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_indians-are-one-people-descended-from-two-tribes_1292864
^ Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study, Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Aryan-Dravidian-divide-a-myth-Study/articleshow/5053274.cms
^ The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and
Philosophy, Vol.II, p.249
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Doctrine
^ Ibid., p.200
^ Ibid., pp.195-6
^ The Key to Theosophy, Section 3
^ The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and
Philosophy, Vol. II, p.723
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Doctrine
^ Ibid., p 421
^ Ibid., p.168
^ Ibid., p.446
^ Powell, A.E. The Solar System: A Complete Outline of the
Theosophical Scheme of Evolution London:1930 The Theosophical
Publishing House Pages 298-299
^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan
Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology New York:1992 New York
University Press Chapter 13 "Herbert Reichstein and Ariosophy" Pages
164-176
^ Padfield, Peter Himmler New York:1990--Henry Holt Page 402
^ P.7, New Religions and the Nazis, By Karla Powne
^ Fundamentals of Pan-Aryanism:
http://forums.skadi.net/showthread.php?p=940600

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrenvolk

^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2003). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric
Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York: New York University
Press. pp. 221. ISBN 0-8147-3155-4.
^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism,
and The Politics of Identity New York: 2002--N.Y. University Press,
See Chapters 4 and 11 for extensive information about the proposed
"Western Imperium"

^ “Vindex—The Destiny of the West—Imperium of the West” by David
Myatt:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=423609919&blogId=497426085

^ [http://www.natvan.com/national-vanguard/130/index.html
"Space Exploration: An Expression of the Aryan Soul" by John Clarke
National Vanguard magazine Issue 130, January-February 2006:]

Further reading

The Arctic Home in the Vedas by Bal Gangadhar Tilak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arctic_Home_in_the_Vedas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_Gangadhar_Tilak

Arvidsson, Stefan. Aryan Idols. The Indo-European Mythology as Science
and Ideology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2006 ISBN
0-226-02860-7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Arvidsson

Poliakov, Leon. The Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Nationalistic
Ideas In Europe New York: Barnes & Noble Books. 1996 ISBN
0-7607-0034-6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Poliakov

Widney, Joseph P. Google Books edition of Race Life of the Aryan
Peoples Race Life of the Aryan Peoples New York: Funk & Wagnalls. 1907
In Two Volumes: Volume One--The Old World Volume Two--The New World
ISBN B000859S6O
http://books.google.com/books?id=s9UKAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage#v=onepage&q=&f=false

External links

The Aryan race
http://www.wisdomworld.org/additional/ListOfCollatedArticles/TheAryanRace.html
Indo-European Languages
http://www.bookrags.com/Indo-European_languages
Aryan by Kim Pearson
http://kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu/Dictionary/aryan.htm
Iranian Branch of the Indo-European Family
http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/february/IranianBranch.html
Races and Ethnic Groups of Iran
http://www.farhangsara.com/races.htm
Forensic Anthropology
http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/biology/research/forensicanthropology/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race

...and I am Std Harth

[chhotemianinshallah]

Whose abuse is it anyway?

Sharad Pawar is not new to verbal abuse. Before Bal Thackeray cosied
up to him in recent times, he was wont to call the Maratha warlord the
most colourful names. Among the more mentionable of them were
`maidyancha pota ’ (a sack of flour) and a dog (I would rather not
repeat the Marathi as that sounds worse).He also continuously poked
fun at Pawar’s ample girth, saying he might be getting stuck in his
commode each morning. To be noted: Thackeray himself preferred Indian
toilets. Hotels he stayed at in Maharashtra had to modify their rooms
for the purpose and when he thought he might be thrown into jail by
Chhagan Bhujbal his primary concern, ahead of other comforts, was if
he would get an Indian toilet in his cell — though Michael Jackson did
use a Western one when he came calling at Matoshree in 1997!

Pawar was so sickened by all such politically irrelevant comments that
he warned Thackeray about the consequences: “I am from the rural areas
and a rural rustic can get more colourful abuse out of his mouth than
someone like Thackeray, city born and bred can ever fathom. So don’t
tempt me.’’ That shut Thackeray up quite adequately because he could
not be sure about how insulting Pawar could get or even if he could
match the latter’s vocabulary, word for word.

I guess Thackeray had reason to run scared. Because he knew Pawar
could say the worst possible things about somebody and still keep the
language parliamentary. Like the time in the Eighties — I recall I
was shocked out of my wits when he referred to then opposition leader
Mrinal Gore as `Pootna Maushi’.

Gore was a well-known socialist and she was very adept at her job as
an opposition leader. She was one of the primary persons who had
exposed Pawar’s alleged involvement in what we then referred to as the
`dereservation scam’. Decoded, this was simply that soon after he
became Chief Minister in 1988, Pawar decided that more than 250 plots
in Bombay which had been reserved for schools, gardens, hospitals and
other public spaces would be, well, dereserved and handed over to
private builders for commercial constructions. Pawar had overruled the
objections of both bureaucrats and municipal authorities about the
advisability of turning Bombay into more of a concrete jungle thus.

Gore tabled the whole list of the plots, along with a minute by minute
account of how they were dereserved, in the Maharashtra Assembly —
leading Chhagan Bhujbal, then the Shiv Sena’s lone legislator in the
House, to stick another unforgettable tag on Pawa: Bhookhandanche
Shrikhand Khalle (he has eaten shrikhand out of plots of land).

But while Pawar could brush aside such labels, what he could not get
over was the complete exposure of his integrity (since then wherever
Pawar goes, land scams, true or not, follow).

Why I believe Pawar’s abuse of Gore was unforgivable was because of
the choice of his words — which were not unparliamentary by themselves
but the circumstances under which they were uttered were downright
vicious. Pootna was the rakshasi who had been assigned by Lord
Krishna’s maternal uncle Kansa to poison the baby God through her
milk. Everyone knows the legend: how Baby Krishna bit her breasts and
destroyed both her and her evil purpose.

Gore had, at the time, been recovering from breast cancer and I
thought it was particularly nasty, downright mean and very hurtful of
Sharad Pawar to allude to a worthy opponent in such unpleasant and
personally painful terms. I was little more than a rookie at the time
and I recall rushing to Gore’s party office at the Vidhan Bhavan soon
after Pawar’s volley – I wanted to sympathise more than get a reaction
out of her to that insult.

However, Gore spoke of everything else but that abuse. And when I
asked her for a reaction, she said she had not heard anything at all
and there was no point reacting to something she did not know about.
Since Gore had very much been present during Pawar’s outburst, I
realised that she was either very hurt or very forgiving. In either
case, her response was very dignified and, in the absence of
television channels in that era, the whole episode was put to rest
almost immediately.

So, if an eon later, Satyavrat Chaturvedi now calls Sharad Pawar
another colourful name, I am not surprised that the Maratha strongman
should not find it too hard to forget and forgive. For Chaturvedi’s
terms of reference were neither personal nor could be too hurtful
(except to the extent that he chose to abuse at all) – those are
terms used almost like punctuation in many North Indian tongues. But
while MCs and BCs might be lingua franca in the North, I agree with
Pawar that it was quite unparliamentary language to have been used at
all.

Perhaps Chaturvedi should have taken lessons from Pawar before he got
abusive: on how to be parliamentary and unpleasant at one and the
same time!

Comments

One Response to “Whose abuse is it anyway?”

Rajen Kaushal says:
March 20, 2010 at 7:10 am
By far, conclusion is that unparliamentary language has no place on
high seats like CM. Thackerays comments are given more weightage by
Media otherwise, going by their political stature, they do not deserve
much weightage.

After exorbitant rise in food prices and sugar, Sharad Pawar’s
response was poor but going by Congress rules after independendence,
Congress, a party of capitalist never contained inflation and many
fold increase in food prices after independence is evident. Moreover,
while appointing ministers, Govt. must ensure that a person does not
become minister for industry from his home state. Maharastra houses
major sugar mills and Sharad Pawar should not have been Agricultural
Minister. What better or clean administration Manmohan Singh,
projected and perceived as honest man by Indians, provide?

http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/singly-political/2010/03/19/whose-abuse-is-it-anyway/

Beat men fair and square

IF THE BILL DOES BECOME LAW, THOUGH,
I AM SURE AT LEAST THE YADAVS, WHO
ARE NOW OPPOSING IT VOCIFEROUSLY,
WILL BE AMONG THE FIRST TO BRING OUT
THEIR WIVES AND DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW TO
OCCUPY HIGH POSITIONS

Ihave always been agnostic when it comes to women’s
reservation: I am not against it per se, but I am not for
it either. My reservations about, well, reservation for
women is based on observation of how it has played out
in Maharashtra, which was among the first states to introduce
a 33 per cent quota for women in local self-government
bodies.
When I travelled to the villages, I noticed that most of
the women sarpanchs were wives of powerful men of the
area. Though it is getting slightly better these days, most
of these women did not take decisions on their own —
and if they did, their husbands would still beat them up.
In the cities, it was only somewhat better — the men
might not beat up women but the latter were certainly
puppets in the hands of their husbands.
I recall one particular woman corporator who had a
fairly bad reputation for just being who she was: the conservative
wife of a local party boss. Her husband took to
threatening people in her name and her mother-in-law
set up a desk right at her front door to rake in the earnings
— she personally counted the cash all day long!
It drove even members of her own party crazy. One of
them told me wryly, “I am against women’s reservation
only for this. Give a man a ticket and only he is corrupt,
give a woman a ticket and her whole family becomes
extortionists.’’
Of course, I did not agree with that perception and
ticked him off quite soundly.
I notice, though, that at least the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) has got better over the
years. But several years ago former Chief Minister
Manohar Joshi had told us, after fielding women relatives
of Shiv Sainiks, quite unabashedly, “We are a purushi
(male) party. Electable women are very difficult to find.’’
However, when Bombay Mayor Shraddha Jadhav gave
away awards on International Women’s Day this year, all
top officials on the dais were women: Shailaja Girkar is
the Deputy Mayor, Mridula Joshi is the Municipal
Secretary and Manisha Mhaiskar is the Additional
Municipal Commissioner. One half was there on account
of the benefit of reservation; the other half had got there
on their own steam, perhaps pipping several worthy men
at the post.
So while I saluted all those women, my ambivalence
towards women’s quota continued, even as the UPA government
failed to have the Bill passed in Parliament on
Monday.
If the Bill does become law, though, I am sure at least
the Yadavs, who are now opposing it vociferously, will be
among the first to bring out their wives and daughtersin-
law to occupy high positions — yes, even the ‘par kati’
ones — remember Sharad Yadav’s obnoxious remark
about women with short hair? His wife has (or at least
had at the time he made that remark) short hair.
Next would be the girlfriends, as we have seen many politicians
promote their paramours even without the benefit
of reservations. I wonder how long it will be before the
common woman, without the benefit of a Godfather in
politics, gets an opportunity to enter a legislative body
on her own merit.
But if she did, I am not so sure it would be fair to restrict
women to constituencies for just five or ten years. Former
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had represented his constituency
in the Lok Sabha for ten terms — if not 50 years,
given several mid-term polls, this meant at least 40 years
at a stretch. Why should women not have similar right
to continue for as long as the voters want them?
If I were into electoral politics, I certainly would be
highly resentful at the injustice and unfairness of it all.
Yet, there is really no other way out of the situation. Which
once again reinforces my ambivalence about a quota for
women.

So it is just as well that I am not a politician with parliamentary
ambitions. I prefer to best the men at their
own game and beat them in their own backyards. As
Pratibha Patil did. And as many other exemplary women
are doing. ■ ***@hindustantimes.com

http://www.hindustantimes.com/images/HTPopups/120310/10_03_M_MTR_16.pdf

How does she do it?

I have said all I wanted to say about my reservations about the
women’s reservation bill in my column anandan on Wednesday this week.

Like I said in the column, I am agnostic about the bill – I neither
believe in it nor do I knock it. I simply doubt that it will help at
all (help the common woman, that is).

But whatever my reservations, I am amazed at how Sonia Gandhi managed
to have the bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, March 9. That
morning it looked as though not just the fate of the bill but also her
authority over her party was at risk. For, I know as a matter of fact
that many men in her party were as determined as Lalu and Mulayam
Yadav to ensure that it never became law and I thought they would
surreptitiously pitch in to scuttle the bill. But now I do not think
too many of them will dare voice their opposition.

I wonder what makes Sonia Gandhi take all the right calls and achieve
miracle after miracle in such quick succession. This particular bill
had been hanging in the balance for 14 years and when several more
stable governments could not manage to get it through, it really did
require a great deal of political will to push it at the risk of so
much endangerment of the UPA’s future.

I have heard people say quite often that we cannot find one single
Indian to rule this country and follow it up with the query: why
should Indians have to kowtow to the Italian bahu of Mrs Indira
Gandhi? In fact, I am looking to all those critics for an answer: yes,
really, why?

But I think I have a clue. And that came from a British diplomat to
quite another question. We were discussing how the Indian diaspora was
among the highest wage earners everywhere else in the world (and thus,
not surprisingly, they incurred the wrath of the locals in their
adopted countries for beating them to and keeping their jobs by sheer
dint of hard work). Yet, when it came to our own country, we were
among the poorest, most backward and taking too long getting anywhere.

The diplomat said, “Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Indians
follow the rules to the `t’ wherever they live abroad. In India they
break the law all the time and so make it difficult for both
themselves and others to get along.’’

Then a Congress worker told me why he preferred Sonia Gandhi to her
husband, Rajiv. “She has a very European outlook on rules and honour.
She keeps her word and will not allow any violations. For example, if
the maximum age for a youth congress leader is 35, she will not allow
any one older to be elected to that post. No other considerations like
caste et al except what is stated in the rulebook. That is heartening
for the rest of us: we know we will eventually get there if we fit the
bill and no one can bring any untoward influence to bear upon her to
push us off the ladder. Even Rajivji was not so correct, he would
allow the occasional jugaad. ’’

That was a eulogy of his party president, of course, but I now wonder
if that is true. Perhaps she does bring a sense of honour and follows
the rules in everything she does and so succeeds more than others who
believe in, well, jugaad (manoeuvring people and situations to suit
their needs).

But on Tuesday, as she gave interviews to women journalists on
television, I was impressed by Sonia’s tone and pitch – happy but
thanking all the men for having made it possible. Gracious for their
support to both the Left parties and the BJP which have knocked her
endlessly over various issues but not gloating about it at all a la
the Yadavs, keeping a door open for the allies and, of course, very
self-effacing.

I say `self-effacing’ because when I first met her in Nasik several
years ago, after she first took over the party’s reigns in the middle
of an election in 1998 and miraculously helped a losing Congress win
45 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats from Maharashtra, she was quick to give
the credit to Sharad Pawar. And when we asked her about her role as
the Congress president, she said, “I am only the latest in a long
series of Congress presidents. Other Congress leaders have been around
longer than I have been and it is they who have done things for the
party, not me. I am still learning.’’

I guess she has learnt well by now and I remark upon another thing: in
the decade at the start of which even her own party men took her with
several fistfuls of salt to now, she seems to have muted the criticism
about her being a misfit in Indian politics and put their uncertainty
about her ability to deliver to rest.

The Congress is the most indisciplined, chaotic and irreverent party I
know. Yet they revere their party president more than the Shiv Sainiks
do Bal Thackeray or the BJP does its own succession of party chiefs.
Perhaps that is because she delivers to them nine times out of ten,
while others do not. But I continue to wonder: did Sonia Gandhi learn
it all at the feet of her mother-in-law or is she bringing a European
sense of commitment to her party that helps her defeat the might of
the BJP and its formidable allies in 2004 and return with an even
greater majority in 2009? And now give to Indian women what no man (or
even woman — most notably Indira Gandhi) has dared or cared to before?

(9 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

Posted by Sujata Anandan on Friday, March 12, 2010 at 9:05 pm

28 Responses to “How does she do it?”

vijai lugani says:
March 13, 2010 at 3:25 am
she leaenedrned the political process in india under the leader ship
of mrs. indra gandhi and of cousrse from rajiv gandhi. she knows upto
this time how to bring together different political shades under one
umberala when requied, she does not believe in cast and creed.she is
hard worker and of couse haverahul and pryanka and some faithful
polrical advisers. the author of this artical is absoultely right in
every aspect and more ever she is not power hungry. if she does not
like some people she can show them door to get out.

Nikhil Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 3:13 am

Vijay Lugani,

If I write about the good qualities of my dhobi they’re not too far
from the ones that you wrote – hardworking, honest, faithful,
relatively selfless and mostly fair. For that matter these qualities
are universal and necessary to succeed in any profession. What makes
Sonia different from us is she finds herself married in to the most
politically influential family in our country where political power is
hereditary and party members are expected to bow to the whips of party
leaders.

Ajay says:
March 13, 2010 at 5:16 am
Interesting thoughts… However, I think many Europeans may feel that
Italian background is bit different from that of Western European one…

Ed says:
March 13, 2010 at 5:53 am
Take a dig on this topic at

[ http://pages.rediff.com/we-evolve/21809#allfeeds ]

The bill is only useful when it break the poverty lines, dynasty lines
…

It should be 35% (poor women), 35%(poor men), 30% (talented)

70% should be representative of poor.

It should be 35% (poor women), 35%(poor men), 30% (talented –
scientist, economist, etc)

THE BIG QUESTION IS how do we qualify to be

1 )Identify 70% – Poor & most popular 10 candiate representing Poor
People from certain region (MP/MLA area) to whom the Election
commision will fund campaign money

2 )To keep tap on Rich person whose campaign funds/money has to be
capped by Election commision and made almost equal to 1).

3 )Criteria to identify 30% (talented people)

Ways to find the list 1) and 2) and 3) is something ruling party needs
to think and debate instead of wasting time.

To gauge 1), we need to count the strongest of the following points by
Election Commision and more can be added by debates

A) Years of work

B) Have an open debate at ONE or TWO cantenders preferred location
agreed by each contenders,
let contenders speak what they have done and want to do.

Make people/choser stand in different locations on the debate ground
to exibit their support.

The count done to choose the top 10.

C) Ensure rotation between Male and Female, thus women whose work and
popularity is on her own rather than backing of GOONDAS should be
preferred for qualifying 1)
People backed by money and goonda power cannot qualify for 1)

D) Every term, Election commision can choose certain region by Gender,
thus they can choose between the women & men that qualify for 1) or
term when both women & men qualify for 1)

Debate should be there to decide if 2)candiates should be allowed to
contest irrespective of gender.

Cap/restriction of number of time(2 times max) a candiate can stand
for elections in a sequence.

Debate on how election commsion will enforce 1) on all parties and in
all regions.
Debate on how to lessen the dynasty and family business and bring
democracy by Election Commission criteria in 1).

Nikhil Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 4:11 am

Ed,

Because you write of so many different, often contradictory,
qualifications for running for office may be you should be our next
Election Commission.

Vijay Saini says:
March 13, 2010 at 6:36 am
Meekly following Sonia Gandhi is the slave mentallity. Although India
is a free country now, it would take us a very long time to get over
the slave mindframe. I think we are ripe and ready for foreign rule by
proxy. Any country can capture us in reality.

AB says:
March 13, 2010 at 7:56 am
Funny article, then lets elect Silvio Berlusconi as president of
India.Problem solved

Jitendra says:
March 13, 2010 at 9:18 am
I have never read such a degrading article. It is a shame that we
still have white man’s lackey amongst us. It is achivement of Mcaulays
education aystem that country continues to create such people even
after 62 years. She can do it because congis are a party of chamchas
and nincompoops including PM. Not a single congi has any moral, ethics
and no one is ready to stand up for the good of country. They only
stand up to save their chair and that depends of congi president. This
article talks of European values and commitment. Is author trying to
say that India does not have people with values and commitments. We
have plenty of people but stupid system of election where masses of
Idiots vote on the basis of caste, religion and personal loyalties.
What a stupid assumption on the part of author that Eurpeons are
better then us. In western coutries it is the system that works but
people are no different from us.

This bill is wrong because it will create rabris. Every from of
reservation and quota should be removed if country has to make any
progress. Otherwise mediocres will continue to stuff this country and
we will reamin a third world country forever. Singapore, Japan and
Malayasia are better than us without importing any whity. Have you
ever thought why we are still joke of the world after 62 years.
Reservation is an indication of failures of Govt economic and social
policies, and majority of the time Congi traitors have been in rule.
Wake up and get rid of banana spine and start believing in yourself
and it is shame that congis have imposed a whity on us. It hurts my
self respect.

LAKSHMANAN says:
March 13, 2010 at 9:32 am
Any type of reservations, on a permanent basis, is a threat to
liberty, standard of life, freedom and finally to democracy. See what
is happening in government due to reservations, especially reservation
policy in promotions. Merit is sidelined and in the name of social
justice many people occupy posts which they would not have got but for
reservations. It is not their fault and no one is worried about the
declining standard of Administration which is directly affecting the
generl public.

The introduction of reservation for women may be an eye opener in the
years to come and after 10 or 15 years every all shall join together
to undo reservations of any kind, I hope.

Nikhil says:
March 13, 2010 at 10:11 am
Oh god! When will journos stop sucking toes of the Nehru-Gandhi
family? Perhaps, never.

Bhukkal Reply:

March 13th, 2010 at 10:21 am

Thats the best summarisation of this article, Nikhil. Well the journos
are on fat pay packets….there is no responsible and honest journalism
left, they have to also buy flats in posh areas, salaries will cater
to their chai paani only… Shameless Creed, I wish there were Kiran
Bedis in Journalism as well.

Ekta B says:
March 13, 2010 at 11:07 am
Although an expat now, this is definitely the way I see things under
Sonia Gandhi in India, a very well written article indeed.
I have now lived overseas for the last 14 years and as someone who has
been given their fair share in an adopted and foreign land and made to
feel so at home, I must say it feels good to read that Sonia has
achieved in India (not from a political but recognition stand-point)
what we hope to achieve overseas as immigrant Indians.
I hope there are more people like her from different political
persuasions for it would make for a better and stronger India.

Nikhil Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 3:01 am

Ekta B,

To be where Sonia is in politics today, one has to first marry in to
the most politically influential family in a country where dynastic
politics reigns supreme. This privilege is found only in India and not
in the West. After looking at the success of political heirs in India,
I’m convinced humans are capable of being reasonably successful if
they’re thrown in any job.

As far as success of foreigners in India is concerned, we already do
it well in many different spheres.

Anil says:
March 13, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Basically I am against any kind of reservations. The historic bill
however was a necessity because of our historic suppression of the
female gender over thousands of centuries. The real necessity is the
empowerment to the women. The glaring example is in the way women are
treated in Army. The strangest thing is that people have totally
forgotten the most maligned PM Mr H D Devegowda (the humble farmer)
and his Law Minister Ram Das Khalap who tabled the bill for the first
time.

Anil Reply:

March 13th, 2010 at 2:44 pm

One more point about our Constitution. India gave voting rights to
women since its independence. USA gave voting rights to women almost
80 years after the blacks got to vote in 1870 !

Gopi Thomas says:
March 13, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Although I do not care about congress party and its politics, I do
admire and respect Mrs Gandhi. Like many, I was questioning her
selection, her “foreign” status, her commitment etc. I have come 180
degrees around, she is an exemplary leader, good disciplinarian. I
firmly believe now, that she at the core, is 100% “Indian”, much much
more than many of her followers or other Indians. I do believe she
wants to create a better and new India on the foundation of our
ancient and rich heritage. Originally it was the call of her husband;
now I truly believe, to her, it is now the call of the country.

Atul8 says:
March 13, 2010 at 8:52 pm
In all my years of international travel, I learnt a valuable lesson
about myslef and my countrymen…. we lack accountability & discipline.

Of course, controlling the congress coffers does help, but Sonia’
foreign roots are really an advantage in this Jugaad ridden society

Most important, normally europeans are not given to visions of
grandeur when in power, unlike in our case where the lust for that red
light on the car is more important than perforing their gievn jobs.

It has to be the European sense of commitment….all the way!!

Nikhil Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 4:02 am

Atul8,

If you think Sonia’s european heritage makes her special in Indian
politics, too bad we let the British go, is it not?

The European sense of commitment and discipline were not achieved
overnight by passing bills for quotas in European governments. If
you’re suggesting to overcome lack of accountability and discipline in
India through more political quotas, perhaps, you should continue with
your international travel till you see clear.

Atul8 Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 10:19 am

Nikhil,

My response in one line -

Too bad we did not embrace and carry forward the sense of discipline &
accountability when we let the British go.

You need to do something about your aggression – it is colouring your
usual objectivity

Nikhil Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 4:44 pm

Atul8,

The sense of discipline & accountability is not a British – or should
I say Italian – USP. Such characteristics are universal and cultivated
in societies where merit and systems are valued more than quotas and
personalities. We could not develop that sense because of intellectual
lethargy and we let ’some’ leaders off the hook when they dilute
democractic processes.

What you may see as aggression, I see it as a natural response to the
perfidy of the mainstream media. Happy international traveling, for
you.

Atul8 Reply:

March 15th, 2010 at 5:46 pm

Nikhil,

Whatever we are, we have done unto ourselves – good or bad.

But when a discussion veers away from the issue to personalities, then
it becomes a clear indication that objectivity is losing out.

Musnt let that happen in the interest of a healthy debate.

Nikhil Reply:

March 16th, 2010 at 1:14 am

Atul8,

Dear, the article revolves around hollow personality and not
substance. The comments will not be too far off, would they? I
fundamentally disagree with your point of view and I had to express it
in a sharp way.

Atul8 Reply:

March 18th, 2010 at 12:43 am

Nikhil,

You were not being sharp. You were being obtuse.

However, enough has been exchanged on this topic, and we should move
on.

Nikhil Reply:

March 18th, 2010 at 5:31 am

Atul8,

It provoked you, that’s all I wanted. Enough said!

Harish says:
March 15, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Is ambika soni ghost writing these articles

You did hit it out of the park with the European honour bit maam…
stupid and rash…but..takes guts..the right wing is sort of like the
australian team in the early part of last decade on the internet…and
they are still reeling in shock and have not attacked this piece in
earnest even after two days…

Rajeev says:
March 16, 2010 at 1:07 am
This article truly reflects dark skinned Indians’ mentality…eternal
slaves

Anil says:
March 16, 2010 at 2:17 am
The Congress is the most indisciplined, chaotic and irreverent party I
know. Yet they revere their party president more than the Shiv Sainiks
do Bal Thackeray or the BJP does its own succession of party chiefs.

The first sentence is unadultyerated lie.. i have never seen any
congress man being anythgin beyond yesman to the nehru family figure..
Somehow this is being presented as virtue which it is not.

BJP is nto family rule Shiv sena could be another matetr altogether
but to ask BJP men to be supine and fawning liek congressmen towards
their leader is negating the intra party democracy of BJP. Everyone is
free to express hsi/per opninon noone need fawn like congressmen do to
the later of 10 janpath.

Rajeev says:
March 16, 2010 at 9:53 pm
I get a feeling that Anandan may be dreaming for Congress ticket in
2014..Good going..Why don’t you start licking feet of Sonia like
Barkha did recently.

http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/singly-political/2010/03/12/how-does-she-do-it/

Kill Bill, for men’s and women’s sake

Amid riotous scenes, India’s upper house passed a controversial
legislation to reserve a third of seats in federal and state
legislatures for women. The constitutional amendment “one that changes
the scope of India’s Constitution” is likely to scrape through the
powerful lower house, too. Despite overreaching itself, the government
of the day will probably survive.
In principle, empowering women is the way to go. Yet this triumph is a
zero-sum game. One participant’s gains can come only from another’s
equivalent losses. It seeks to pay Paul by robbing Peter.

This bill is deeply flawed because collateral damages have not been
addressed. Since it will be a zero-sum game, it will have a direct
bearing on representations of minority communities, backward castes
and marginalized women themselves. The Bill is anti-minority, anti-
backwards, and both anti-women and anti-men.

In a largely risk-averse political system, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi
can take the credit for pulling out a Bill that previous governments
“including those run by her own party” had abandoned, and for driving
it past dissenters whom she may in future need.

Imposing a 33 per cent quota seems momentous in a country where female
foetuses are aborted, wives spanked and women are paid less than a
third the male average in unorganized jobs. In reality, the quota can
add to the sort of disequilibrium current legislatures are made of.

Even setting aside the fact that some male MPs will naturally have to
step down for women, the proposed law fundamentally changes the basic
nature of India’s electoral representation.

With a 15-year shelf-life, 33 per cent of the seats will be blocked in
rotation and will be done in a way that a seat shall be reserved once
in three back-to-back elections. The revolving quota is the Bill’s
most serious flaw.

Two-thirds of candidates, men and women, will be unseated every time
and one-thirds will have no chance of being re-elected from the same
seat. This one-third will be left wondering if they will get to retain
their seats, depending on the outcome of the lottery.

On the whole, it will set off largescale churning “every single time”
that will make elections farcical. Electors will vote in, rather than
vote out incompetent representatives. With frequently changing
representatives, what would voters go by in deciding whom to elect?

The role of past performance in deciding a candidate’s fate will be
further lessened, thereby blunting the only weapon the common man has.
Constituencies will cease to matter for candidates. The veterans and
more guile among candidates will resettle themselves, pushing out less
iconic politicians.

Accountability will suffer because a candidate will less likely go to
the same voter every time. The voters’ powers to rate a candidate’s
performance will diminish, paving the way for a greater role of money
in deciding electoral outcomes.

A “sense of belonging” is part and parcel of Indian politics.
Constituencies are nursed by politicians who invest time, efforts and
money into the place they hope to get elected from.

Can we have compelling women leaders if they do not have strong
permanent political bases? The current Bill is paternalistic; it seeks
to make rolling-stone politicians of women, or “one-time players”, to
use women activist Madhu Kishwar’ words.

Several women’s rights organisations have highlighted these fault
lines. NGO Manushi advocates an alternative Bill, requiring political
parties to reserve nominations (tickets) for women, not seats.
Feminist fundamentalists, however, in their zeal, have failed to
appreciate the serious weaknesses hidden in the proposed amendment.

Though it will not exactly result in separate electorates, the women’s
reservation Bill, in spirit, moves towards that direction. But
proponents of the Bill deny such a possibility. Separate electorates,
theoretically, are those where electors and the elected belong to the
same community, sex or caste.

The Constituent Assembly “which served as India’s first Parliament
until it framed the Constitution” had overturned separate electorates
granted by the British government to minorities, especially Muslims
and Sikhs.,

Framers of the Constitution opted to keep the highest elected
institution free from preferential treatment, preferring the “first
past the post system”over proportional representation, save for time-
bound reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to enable
them to overcome disadvantages.

The Constituent Assembly initially included minority safeguards in its
Report on Minority Rights adopted in August 1947 and in the Draft
Constitution’s Part XIV. However, subsequent nationalist arguments
“situated in the immediate past history of Partition” paved the way
for a reversal of minority safeguards.

The principal arguments against it were that such rights were based on
caste and religion, and religion-based separate electorates had been
the immediate trigger for Partition. With the Muslim League and the
Sikh Panthic Party in disarray, Muslim and Sikh acquiescence on
reversing minority safeguards was ultimately secured.

The reversal was done by a close vote in the Constituent Assembly
Advisory Committee meeting, but key Muslim leaders, including Congress
leader Maulana Azad, abstained. (R. Retzlaff points out in “The
Problem of Communal Minorities in the Drafting of the Indian
Constitution” that the Constitution would have included political
safeguards for religious minorities had framing been completed during
the initial timetable fixed for it. Also see Rochana Bajpai’s Minority
Rights in Indian Constitution, Working Paper 30).

If the women’s Bill is passed in its current form, then a clear case
emerges for compensatory minority safeguards to be reactivated, not
separate electorates but reserved seats.

In fact, parties like Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and
Muslim organizations have demanded a quota-within-quota in women’s
reservation.

Muslim representation in the federal legislature is dwindling: from 48
in 1985, it is 29 at present. In all 15 Lok Sabha elections, only 14
Muslim women have been elected. Kerala has two Muslim federal
lawmakers, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have 1 each. States such as
Mahrashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan have none..

The women’s reservation Bill is based on the presumption of
homogeneity in the status of women. Homogeneity is a stupid idea when
applied to assess communities horizontally. Not all women, like
Muslims, are equally disadvantaged or privileged.

Since privileged groups are always in a better position to leverage
concessions, the proposed amendment will help privileged women gain at
the expense of less-privileged ones. Though ideally, the highest
elected forum should be able to be free from all reservations, a quota
that specifically addresses maginalised women would have been
pragmatic.

The Congress, at his stage, clearly has not thought of the jigsaw
puzzle that awaits it. It is simply basking in the glory of a
political stunt. The BJP has eyes set on inroads through upper-caste
women. The Left’s euphoria matches Abdullah’s in this Urdu
proverb: begaani shaadi me Abdullah diwana (Abdullah is rejoicing at
an uninvited wedding).

(10 votes, average: 2.7 out of 5)

Posted by Zia Haq on Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Filed under India · Tagged collateral damages, Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi, elections, India’s Constitution, legislation, Madhu Kishwar,
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes

36 Responses to “Kill Bill, for men’s and women’s sake”

Gopi Thomas says:
March 14, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Churning, short terms etc are good; and an increased representation
for women is even better. Democracy works through elected
representatives voting on changes and issues. I do hope Lok Sabha
votes for this; and if they do, I hope people like Zia will shut up.
These are the same people who want reservation for this group of
people and that group of people; what is wrong with having seats
reserved for women?

Panchayaths, municipality, and Corporation elections (and mayoral
slots) in Kerala have been reserved for women in the last 15 years,
and it ahs produced real grass roots level progress. A bigger
representation by women in Parliamenta nd aswemblies will only do
good.

Vijay Bhatia Reply:

March 15th, 2010 at 2:53 am

Gopi, you are arguing in favor of increased representation of women in
Parliament and Assemblies. That of course is very much desirable. But
this bill, in its current form is a sure prescription of political
chaos.
What this bill means is that no male leader can represent same
constituency more than twice! And this will do no long term good for
women politicians either. Because, before they can gain ground and
experience, they will have to move on, since in next election cycle
the seat won’t be reserved!

Here is a very Rational take on this important issue (feel free to
comment):-

http://rationalopinion.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-good-womens-reservation-bill.html

[Reply]

Vijay Reply:

March 15th, 2010 at 8:09 am

No one is arguing against a bigger representation by omen in
Parliament and assemblies will be good. The debate is about how to
achieve it.
The bill in its current form is sure recipe for political chaos.
Here is another rational opinion on this important issue:-

http://rationalopinion.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-good-womens-reservation-bill.html

Bell Bajao Reply:

March 15th, 2010 at 8:17 pm

“Panchayaths, municipality, and Corporation elections (and mayoral
slots) in Kerala have been reserved for women in the last 15 years,
and it ahs produced real grass roots level progress. A bigger
representation by women in Parliamenta nd aswemblies will only do
good.”

Indeed! We’ve seen this happen in other parts of the company as well.
Reservation in panchayat has actually empowered women in villages and
has helped a lot in their upliftment.

VARUN SAXENA says:
March 15, 2010 at 1:53 am
Mr.Zia, the bill has certain Issues and to a certain the bill proposed
by Madhu Kishwar is in someways better.
But what I cannot understand is this. You said “The Bill is anti-
minority, anti-backward”. Can you pls explain How ?

How can women reservation bill be Anti Muslim ? How come just about
everything becomes Anti Muslim ?

I hope this bill passes with some modifications and not the
modifications which Mulayam and Laloo are suggesting but the ones
suggested by Learned People.
The only reason Mulayam and Laloo are against this Bill is that most
of the MPs’ of these 2 parties are big goons and only through these
goondaism of these goons alongwith folling Muslims and Lower Castes by
pitting them against Upper Castes do they win elections.

Now it can be safely said that more than 95% goons in INDIA would be
men. Henceforth with Women having 33% reservations the chances of
these parties winning Elections will be inversely affected

Ashish says:
March 15, 2010 at 2:21 am
I agree that while the objective is laudable, the bill as it stands
today is deeply flawed. I am not comfortable with the idea of having
no power over my MP (man or woman) who knows that he/ she will not
need my vote next time.

I liked the arguments put forward by Karan Thapar favouring changes to
the bill in his column earlier today.

Am I against reserving seats for women? No, I am not. But, this bill
in its present form; no, it does not appeal to me. MPs are not IAS
officers that they can serve one constituency (district) for 2 terms
and then move to another one for the next terms.

However, trust Zia to use the Women’s reservation bill to ask for
reservations for Muslims.
Way to go Zia; suck up to Mulayam now. Who knows, he might make you an
MLA/ MP from Delhi.

Vini says:
March 15, 2010 at 2:27 am
The headline of this post should be: Kill Bill, for men’s sake. After
all, all the rhetoric we have heard in recent days about the bill
being a threat to parliamentary democracy, equality… blah, blah,
blah…. including this blogpost… is simply a smokescreen to hide the
truth that no man wants to be caught admitting: That men, don’t want
to share power with women. Ever.

Yes the Bill has flaws, but those flaws can be addressed without
killing the Bill.

What I want to say here first is that I take extreme offense at the
use of the word ‘spanking’ to trivialize a serious issue like domestic
violence. Do you have any idea what domestic violence is? Perhaps not.
That’s why you treat it so flippantly.

As for the rest of the blog, it is all conjecture. You and all the
doomsayers don’t know if this bill will work till it is implemented.
It might just. And forget that old argument that it will be taken over
by elite women. So far it’s been elite men in charge.. so what’s wrong
with elite women having a go?

As for the problems of revolving quota that you bring up as the Bill’s
most serious flaw, I think you can argue the other way too. That is,
MPs from reserved constituencies will work extra hard in the reserved
constituency to ensure that they get a ticket when the seat is not
reserved any more because of the good work they would have hopefully
done.

Ashish Reply:

March 16th, 2010 at 6:02 pm

@Vini,
Mr Zia can’t just win, can he ?
For the first time, Zia tried arguing for the majority (men!). And,
still, he finds very few supporters!

Not speaking for Zia here; just speaking for myself.

I support the objectives behind the bill; as a man. I see in India a
huge need to balance the power structure which is so tilted in favour
of men. Also, as others have pointed out in comments, an increased
representation for women is inversely correlated (or so we hope) to
the criminality quotient of our legislatures.
I do not wish this bill to be killed. I do however wish this bill to
be amended to somehow handle the rotation issue. Like I had said,
Karan Thapar made some excellent suggestions. So did the legal cell
head of the Shiv Sena on TV.

Ma’am, most men on this blog are not against the bill; please do not
make the mistake of thinking men oppose the bill. Far from it.
Certainly not because we will lose a chance to be an MP/ MLA… I doubt
any of us commenting here have realistically ever thought of
contesting elections.

All men are not Laloo Yadav/ Sharad Yadav/ Mulayam Yadav.. luckily all
women are not Mayawati, Mamata or Jayalalitha either who promote
women even less than men do.
May I also mention that I have a vested interest? As one with two
daughters, at least one of whom is seriously disinclined to study
(admittedly early days, she is just 6), I love the new career options
this bill opens up for her.

Vijay Bhatia says:
March 15, 2010 at 2:55 am
“I am not comfortable with the idea of having no power over my MP (man
or woman) who knows that he/ she will not need my vote next time.”

Excellent point Ashish!
Here is my take on this important issue, if you like:-

http://rationalopinion.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-good-womens-reservation-bill.html

K says:
March 15, 2010 at 4:09 am
I dont understand what makes the women reservation bad but all those
other reservations (BC,SC,OBC etc.) good ? Both types are aimed at the
‘marginalized’ and both actually lower the quality of politicians we
elect and even more importantly, both a against the constitution which
lets the people decide who should represent them.

Quota has only helped influential sections of SC,BC,OBC. This is not
like a ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ where an unknown, marginalized dalit or
lady can make it to the parliament, no matter how much quota is
introduced.

As Sonia shockingly and sadly commented, people like Lalu will have
greater control over parliament and greater share of black money
because he has seven daughters and the power to field them in
elections.

peshori ahuja says:
March 15, 2010 at 5:41 am
Reservation itself means that the comunity, the religion, the class,
or any groupthat asks or gets reservation is not capable of attaining
the efficiency of the level that is attained by those for whom there
is no reservation.

Not only that but by asking or getting the reservation makes the
reserveds a second class citizens and it makes the clever politicians
more manipolative and powerful.

Vijay says:
March 15, 2010 at 8:14 am
For most parts I agree with Zia’s reasoning. This bill in it’s current
form is a sure recipe for political chaos. Political commitment by
parties is way to go.
Why political parties have to be coerced by laws? Where did the days
go, when parties used to organize “aandolans” for social cause? Why
not even congress want to field more women candidates, unless coerced
by the law?
This is anything but LEADERSHIP.

Here is another rational opinion on this important issue:-

http://rationalopinion.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-good-womens-reservation-bill.html

Joseph James says:
March 15, 2010 at 8:20 am
The writer bases his arguments against the women’s bill on the false
premise that the retention of a constituency by a sitting member is
the be-all and end-all of democracy. In an advanced stage of
democracy, every election will bring in new candidates as it is
happening in the southern states. In fact, a constituency must be
nursed by a party and not by individuals. At any rate, going by the
arguments of bill’s opponents like Zia, the candidates displaced by
the reservation are going to promote women from their families. This
will mean that, certain constituencies which were individual pocket
boroughs earlier will now become family pocket boroughs. Or ingenious
candidates will now start nursing two constituencies instead of one.
In short the electorate, now, stand to receive more attention from the
politicians, which isn’t a bad thing after all. Moreover, rotational
unseating is applicable only to men, not to women. So, performing
women members can continue to represent their constituencies even when
they become unreserved. This will push the female strength in the
parliament beyond the mandatory 33%. The argument that the bill
doesn’t address the grievances of marginalized women doesn’t hold
water either. As of today all women are marginalized. The quota within
quota can come in the second stage. After all this is a mere
beginning. Amendments can be introduced later to make it foolproof. It
must be given time to evolve like the anti-defection law. What’s most
worrying about the anti-bill movement is that it seems to be centred
around the Muslim interests. Even the socialist parties are
purportedly doing it please the Muslim minority. I do not think Islam
is as anti-women and anti-progress as it is usually made out to be.

Dr. P.K. Jha says:
March 15, 2010 at 8:43 am
Reservation in any form is bad, be it caste-based or gender-based or
religion-based. As Karan Thapar says, the whole issue of reservation
is an offense, for it leads to severe discrimination. The proposed
bill for women is no exception.

The women in favor of this bill are virtually projecting themselves as
handicapped. Strangely, they are the ones who also insist on gender
equality.

Every policy of reservation is initially deemed to end after a period
of ten to fifteen years, and this one is no exception. However, we
know from our experience that this kind of promise is basically a
hogwash.

There is still time for good sense to prevail. For heaven’s sake,
withdraw the bill.

sks says:
March 15, 2010 at 9:05 am
The fact is that a woman might actually do very well in 5 years to be
re-elected again. Why should anyone presume that they will not get
reelected! It might be the best strategy to break the current fiefdom
without performance!
By the way, which sane person uses the word spanked for abuse!

Shrinivas says:
March 15, 2010 at 9:22 am
Some of the objections to the bill are valid, but since for 60 years
the disparity, marginalization and backwardness of women is not
addressed by the the political system, only quota is the solution.
Though this is meant for 15 years, we can imagine this not going away
after that.
The people who suggest that let parties reserve % of candidacy to
women is not going to work, as we all know that just to satisfy the %
the parties will give tickets where they don’t stand a chance to win.
Now, about quota within quota, I believe being women, representing
women and fighting for women is a bigger cause than representing a
cast, community or a section of society. So let’s fight for the the
right cause first. These parties who are making hoopla about quota in
quota, did not bother to give tickets neither to women nor minorities
in the same %.

Sid says:
March 15, 2010 at 9:26 am
First of All welcome change from Zia Haq – atleast instead of calling
for Fatwa – he is trying to engage in a debate! However, it is NOT an
intellectual debate because:
1. For Muslims there are many forums & 80% our media is in FOREFRONT
to project their interests & represent their view points.
2. For OBC & SC, 63 years have gone by, except for their leaders
becoming Zillionaires, NO REAL improvements have been seen in their
lives. Many CMs ruled for long time (Laloo, Karunanadhi, Mulayam,
Mayawathi etc). Same is true of Muslims (all Bollywood big guns are
Muslims – do they donate any charity to good Muslim organizations?)
Money also comes from Gulf employed Muslims.
3. My wife should be writing this – but she is BUSY listening to
Bollywood songs, so SPIRITED men like me have to take up the cause of
WOMEN!
4. Most important – Laloo has commented – women’s bill OVER his dead
body – such GOLDEN oppertunity may NEVER again come in our life times,
so why NOT KILL TWO wonderful birds with one STONE. Don’t even THINK –
JUST go for the KILL by voting BLINDLY for women’s bill!

n s parameswaran says:
March 15, 2010 at 9:54 am
The people who call themselves secular, liberal and progressive are
the people who ask for communal reservation for Muslims under the garb
of ‘Monorities’. . When they practice ‘Communalism’ it is called
‘Progressive Politics’, and when Hindus object to it they are labelled
‘Communal’.

If muslims are backward then the reason is they want to be backward.
They never started or took admission in schools and colleges and
instead started “madarassa’, learnt Quaran by rote. Now how can they
get jobs which such ‘UN”Qualifications. Then they blackmail the
majority with cries of injustice and opression. Spineless parties like
Congress, Left and Opportunistic and unprincipled parties like RJD,
SP, DMK, AIADMK, JD(Secular), Left and the whole bandwagon of seculars
have fallen for this blackmail and ruined India.

MUSLIMS SHOULD NEVER EVER BE GIVEN RESERVATION UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES.

Tanuj says:
March 15, 2010 at 12:07 pm
The britishers used seperate electorate to divide & rule. By giving
reservation based on religion we would be doing the same. Who stops a
party to give a ticket to a muslim lady from one of the reserved
seats?
I think it is a landmark bill and should be supported by all.

Gurmeet says:
March 15, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I think this bill will prove to be a boon for all women, but
especially for Muslim women. Representation of Muslim women has so far
been very weak. When one-third of the seats are reserved for women, a
substantial number of muslim majority constituency will have to elect
a woman. There is an excellent chance that those constituencies shall
be represented by Muslim women. It is also likely that these women
will not be the burka or naquab clad women, who are oppressed by the
fundamentalists in the Muslim society, but would be more socially
progressive and liberated from the dogmas. This is likely because the
arduous task of reaching and engaging with the electorate will be so
much easier for the progressive Muslim women. These women will serve
as the role model of rest of the young women in Muslim society, which
will ultimately be a good thing both for the Muslims and therefore for
India.

Vini says:
March 15, 2010 at 2:57 pm
The headline of this post should be: Kill Bill, for men’s sake. After
all, all the rhetoric we have heard in recent days about the bill
being a threat to parliamentary democracy, equality… blah, blah,
blah…. including this blogpost… is simply a smokescreen to hide the
truth that no man wants to be caught admitting: That men, don’t want
to share power with women.

Yes the Bill has flaws, but those flaws can be addressed without
killing the Bill.

What I want to say here is that I take extreme offense at the use of
the word ‘spanking’ to trivialize a serious issue like domestic
violence. Do you have any idea what domestic violence is? Perhaps not.
That’s why you treat it so flippantly.

As for the rest of the blog, it is all conjecture. You and all the
doomsayers don’t know if this bill will work till it is implemented.
It might just. And forget that old argument that it will be taken over
by elite women. So far it’s been elite men in charge.. so what’s wrong
with elite women having a go?

As for the problems of revolving quota that you bring up as the Bill’s
most serious flaw, I think you can argue the other way too. That is,
MPs from reserved constituencies will work extra hard in the reserved
constituency to ensure that they get a ticket when the seat is not
reserved any more because of the good work they would have hopefully
done.

Ziauddin Shafi says:
March 15, 2010 at 6:59 pm
The simple fact is that, if you want to prevent a civil war in our
country, you will have to simply amend it and incorporate all the
demands that are being raised here. No, this is not a threat – nobody
can threaten a civil war damn it, this is just a forecast of shape of
things to come. Maoists on the rampage, Yadavs fully agitated, Muslims
further discriminated against and lesser represented in the power
share, Dalits more oppressed than before – and the high caste hindus
more getting more power in the process. This is a sure formula of
inciting a civil war – thank you congress, bjp and cpim – you are
about to do something which china, usa, europe & pakistan would have
loved to do – have a great civil war in india so that it receds back
to the middle ages – then it would be easier for the buccanneers of
the khyber to get in and set up shop. India had always suffered due to
the high caste hindus throughout its history – and alas would continue
to do so because of them.

S Singh Reply:

March 15th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

Ziauddin

Nice “hope”!

Believe me, your hope will not happen. India is beyond that.
Skirmishes will be there, appeasing politicians will continue to
appease, country will progress at a rate less than what it could have.
A growing India uplifts all; the huge spending govt does on
disadvantaged will only grow.

If 10% of so called high caste Hindus control the whole India, one
should congratulate them on their skills.

Have you tabulated the “classification” of the top 100 richest
Indians ? Do you know how many Brahmins are in the richest 100? It is
4.

sanjeev says:
March 15, 2010 at 7:06 pm
@ Zia
i could guess that Zia will ultimately turn to his muslim
reservation.

You need a serious therapy of “reverse brainwashing”

I f these skull caps and three quarter pyajama’s got reservation then
this will be step towards another Pakistan in the making. Remember the
process started this way in 1909…Morley Minto Reforms

SKS Mumbai says:
March 15, 2010 at 9:31 pm
‘The Bill is anti-minority, anti-backwards, and both anti-women and
anti-men’

If we exclude the women and men, it would read like a pre-partition
Muslim League’s pamphlet.

‘Framers of the Constitution — —- —– save for time-bound reservation
for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to enable them to overcome
disadvantages.’

Except for the rotation part (clearly a problem), how is current bill
different from above?

‘The principal arguments against it were that such rights were based
on caste and religion and religion-based separate electorates had been
the immediate trigger for Partition’

Just immediate trigger? Or the whole basis?
Zia sahab, are you suggesting that proportional representation was the
way to go? We thought that all those wanted proportional (actually
more than proportinal with a veto as well) representation crossed over
in 1947.

‘With the Muslim League and the Sikh Panthic Party in disarray, Muslim
and Sikh acquiescence on reversing minority safeguards was ultimately
secured’

Indeed, after Mr Jinnah and Muslim League left India in 1947, Muslims
of India had nobody to represent them, exactly as Mr Jinnah had
insisted all along. Our Hindu Communal Leaders foolishly questioned Mr
Jinnah’s premise. (For Mr Jinnah and ML, Hindu communalism was
represented by Gandhi, Nehru and congress, rarely did they talk of
Hindu Mahasabha)

‘In fact, parties like Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and
Muslim organizations have demanded a quota-within-quota in the women’s
reservation’

Yup, the ‘Strongest Argument’ against the bill.

Mr Zia’s Final Conclusions:
Congress acted dumb, Left dumber.
The Bill is a victory for Hindutva driven Bramhin-Bania combine!!
Do we need any other reason to oppose the Bill?

Rajeev says:
March 16, 2010 at 1:17 am
The best thing will be to merge India with pakistan and name is
Greater pakistan. Gives muslims like Zia 100% reservation with right
to kill or convert non-muslims especially hindus.

Anil says:
March 16, 2010 at 1:45 am
One participant’s gains can come only from another’s equivalent
losses. It seeks to pay Paul by robbing Peter

Do you have same sentiments in matters of reservation for muslims..

Hypocricy at its very best

Zia Haq Reply:

March 16th, 2010 at 5:52 pm

Unfortunately, of late, I haven’t been able to read up on the comments/
invectives that follow because of lack of time.

On your charge of hypocricy: What I said is up here for you to read
again. But Here’s what I didn’t say anywhere: that Muslims should get
separate electorates (something simply out of question) or political
reservation. On the contrary, I said: “Though ideally, the highest
elected forum should be able to be free from all reservations, a quota
that specifically addresses maginalised women would have been
pragmatic.” What does this tell you?

Even so, I am not against political reservation for women per se, but
not in the current form. I would much rather have political parties
give nomination to the extent of 33 per cent. Who or what stops them.
And please understand, I do not advcoate any quota on the basis of
homogeneity. I said so: “Homogeneity is a stupid idea when applied to
assess communities horizontally. Not all women, like Muslims, are
equally disadvantaged or privileged.” Therefore, I will never advocate
quota for all Muslims.

Understand that before I decide to write or take a position, I do
consider all relevant issues before arriving at an informed decision
and not simply think with a Muslim hat on. The Bill, in its current
form, suffers from inherent flaws. Its bearing on representations of
minority is one such flaw, among others. It is a given that Muslim
representation will be severely affected. And therefore it is a
legitimate concern. Moreover, blocking such a huge number of seats for
women in this way — I have argued — legitimises the demand for a quota
within quota for backward women, which will include Muslims, OBCs etc.
Nobody is even talking about Muslim political reservation. it’s not
required, not recommended and not demanded. The demand is for
political representation, not reservation.

Anil says:
March 16, 2010 at 1:48 am
NO muslim reservation in legislation.. we do not want start of another
pakistan movemenet.. this is how it all started in past..

Anil says:
March 16, 2010 at 2:08 am
See the thuggery of parties sekeing quota withitn quota.. these people
will make you belive as if they have bene emporing the women i within
their community caste only the general category women have faced
dicrmination. But fact is noone acroos the party caste creed lines
have bene empowering women. There is a common threat fo discrimantion
against women by their respective male folks.. Who stops these idiots
shouting for quota within quota from giving tickets to more and more
muslim and backward and sc/st and what nto women.

One fo the guy was saying woman; reseervation will dilute sc/st
reservation as if sc/st woman are nto sc/st.

These thuigs who support reservation when it’s conveneint to them are
suddenly parooting reservation pays peter by robbing paul..

Pahle ye akal nahin aai thi

ramesh says:
March 16, 2010 at 10:43 am
The mother of all the resavations is the resv. the muslims are allowed
tobe the resident non indians,

Rajeev Reply:

March 16th, 2010 at 9:47 pm

Good one. We have 150 million pakistanis living in India barring
handful.

SKS Mumbai says:
March 17, 2010 at 9:14 pm
@Zia
@Zia
‘I didn’t say anywhere: that Muslims should get separate electorates
(something simply out of question) or political reservation’

What you said was this: Constituent Assembly would have approved
separate electorates (is that same as Minority safeguards?) but for:
1. fresh memory of partition, which made the nationalist arguments;
particularly effective, and/or

2. a weakened Muslim League (I omit Sikh part here); and/or

3. abstention by key Muslim leaders.

Of course, that does not mean that you wanted ’separate electorates’
or ‘political reservation’ for Muslims?

Nor does your following statement mean so:

‘If the women’s Bill is passed in its current form, then a clear case
emerges for compensatory minority safeguards to be reactivated, not
’separate electorates’ but ‘reserved seats’

Am I missing something?
For e.g. the difference between ‘reserved seats’ and ‘political
reservation’?
Or the similarity between
‘compensatory’ and ‘only for marginalised’?

Ashish Reply:

March 18th, 2010 at 10:30 am

@SKS
It has been established before that Zia resorts to generalities when
specifics are called for.. at any rate, he has his own idioms and
syntaxes. Deliberately vague or vaguely deliberate, a compendium of
Zia-isms will be a best-seller.
As for your question: am I missing something? well, yes. You are. You
are missing the point of this blog. The sole function of this blog is
to generate controversy by ill-advised and poorly researched comments
and boost eyeballs.. the visit stats look good on account of Zia,
Vinod Sharma et al.. they are stars.

Rajeev says:
March 18, 2010 at 1:33 am
All the muslims who are asking for reservation on caste basis should
revert back to Hinduism.
The reservation for SC/ST/OBC was introduced to fight casteism in
HINDU society. It was for HINDUS who were at the bottom of their
SOCIETY. There were many who chose to become muslims/xtians to escape
HINDU casteism. Now if they want to come out of caste opression, they
need to revert back to hinduism.

In the word of Shri Kancha Illiah “islam and xtianity are democratic
religion” so there is no chance of casteism being part of muslim/xtian
socities.

Rajeev says:
March 18, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Simple solutions-

1. If you are muslim and want reservation on caste, come back to caste
system in Hinduism and avail the reservation.

2. If you are muslim and want reservation on caste but don’t want to
revert to Hinduism, please pack your bags and go back to pakistan
where you guys have 100% reservation.

http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/they-call-me-muslim/2010/03/14/kill-bill-for-men%e2%80%99s-and-women%e2%80%99s-sake/#more-144

Budgeting for minorities

Although historically aware of its disadvantaged sections and their
special needs, India has decisively switched from ‘appeasing’ Muslims
— its largest minority — to budgeting for them.

Two things in recent years have helped institutionalise minority
budgeting. One is the creation of a minority affairs ministry by the
Congress-led UPA government in 2004 and, as a result, yearly budgetary
allocations made to it.Two, a high-level government survey in November
2006 that proved disadvantages faced by Muslims, followed up with
another one that recommended reservations.

Till now, an unproductive Hajj subsidy worth Rs 390 crore — which goes
in bankrolling the pilgrimage through discounted airfare — had been
the flagship largesse.

Even though government-funded religious travel is not unique to
Muslims, the Hajj subsidy has often been singled out as unfair.

The Centre underwrites a part of the travel costs of the annual Hindu
pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet, the abode of the Hindu god
Shiva.

Karnataka’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government proposes
concessional Hindu pilgrimages to the temples of Udupi, Dharmasthala
and Saudatti in the southern Indian state.

In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Congress party-led government
subsidises the cost of travel for Christians visiting Jerusalem in
Israel and Bethlehem in Palestinian Authority. A subsidy is also being
planned, according to media reports, for Manasarovar Yatra in China.

Why should government fund religious jaunts? Either because we are a
welfare state unlike any other or it is a game of votes. Perhaps,
both.

Deploying tax revenues for affordable healthcare, education and
employment may be good economics but in an ancient holy land,
spiritual well being seems to deserve importance too. But competing
populism has definitely crept into it.

Show me an economically underprivileged Hindu who will find fault with
government help to make a dip in the holy Ganges a reality? Or a
Muslim quibbling over a lifetime visit to Mecca, courtesy government
help?

However, there is a growing demand from Muslims themselves for the
Hajj subsidy to be scrapped. While it gives Air India 150,000 assured
passengers every year (that’s the total number of seats on all Indian
carriers criss-crossing the country on any given day), helping it keep
afloat, the grant has been turned into a stick to beat Muslims with.
No Muslim asked for it in the first place.

Muslims are now calling for global and national open bids: whoever
offers the cheapest tickets gets to fly away with 150,000 prize
passengers. Fair enough.

“If the Hajj subsidy is withdrawn, it won’t hurt us. If scholarship
are cut, that would,” Asaduddin Owaisi, Hyderabad MP from the All
India Majlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen party, told the Hindustan Times last
year.

There is a less obvious side to the Hajj subsidy. The subsidy itself
seems responsible for Muslim backwardness, given that it has enabled
governments to use it as a signature grant and avoid more basic
financial interventions.

However, the recognition that minorities can be predisposed to
experiencing disadvantages due to their numerical inferiority itself
has made planning and budgeting for them an integral part of most
developed countries.

Almost all of Europe and the US make special allocations of one type
or the other for their minorities.

Why do Indian Muslims need a helping hand?

The country’s Muslim population is 150 millions, making it the state
with the second-largest Muslim population, after Indonesia. Indian
Muslims experience serious disadvantages, low literacy and high
poverty rates.

Their literacy rates are well below the national average, while
poverty rates are only slightly higher than low-caste Hindus,
according to the November 2006 Sachar Committee report.

Muslims, mostly Sunnis, make up 13.4% of India’s population, yet hold
fewer than 5% of government posts and make up only 4% of
undergraduates in universities. The report also found that, despite
being self-employed at a far higher rate, Muslims trail other groups
in terms of access to credit.

Yet, they can influence elections, using their voting power to extract
concessions from parties who woo them.

Muslims are not uniformly disadvantaged. Those in south and west India
have been historically wealthier. In the north, Muslims were thrust
into abject poverty at once when their wealthier counterparts left for
Pakistan during the 1947 Partition.

Muslims in rural areas are less poor than in urban areas, where their
poverty rate of 38 percent is higher than any other population’s,
including low-caste Hindus.

Although no formal Muslim caste system exists, three groups of Indian
Muslims –ashraf, ajlaf, and arzal — indeed function as such. More
correctly, there is definitely a Muslim class system, if not a caste
system.

The ashrafs, thought to be of Arab ancestry, form the upper class
among Muslims, while the ajlafs are thought to be previously Hindus
who converted to Islam to escape the Hindu caste system. A third
group, the arzals, correlates to the lowest caste among Hindus.

The Sachar Report has provided exhaustive data on socio-economic
conditions of Muslims.

The Sachar report has been controversial, not just for highlighting
Muslim marginalisation but also because of its very mandate. Hindu
nationalists — led by the BJP — criticized the report, tainting it
with an old brush –- that of appeasement.

While it offers clear proof of Muslim marginalisation, there have been
debates about how to combat Muslim unemployment rates. The BJP is
averse to solutions focusing directly on Muslims but would prefer
general poverty alleviation.

All government outlays to pull a community out of backwardness can
look like appeasement, given the zeal for competing interests of
political leaders vying for power.

Has budgeting helped?

India’s 2010-11 budget has given 50% higher allocation to the minority
affairs ministry — up from Rs 1,740 crore to Rs 2,600 crore.

Cash flow to minorities — from bank loans to scholarships — peaked
during 2008-09, according to government data, as Muslims appeared to
be slowly overcoming a strong bias of banks in lending.

Public sector banks, which would turn down Muslim loan applicants
because they were considered “credit risk groups”, have disbursed a
staggering Rs 82,864 crore in loans to minorities during 2008-09.

Since the Reserve Bank has now turned its focus to 121 backward
minority districts with high Muslim population, as identified by the
minority affairs ministry, Muslims got a chunky pie of the credit
share.

Banks now have to compulsorily service Muslims in backward areas after
the Reserve Bank added minorities to its list of other priority
lending sectors, like agriculture and small-scale businesses in July
2007.

“We will be able to see the results shortly if not immediately,”
Planning Commission member Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, who heads the
minority sector, says.

Cash constraints are now easing, with banks achieving lending targets
set for minorities. In 2008-09, the Reserve Bank’s target was that 13%
of loans under priority sector lending should go to minorities and
banks were able to lend 12.4%. This was better than 2007-08, when the
target was 10.6% and actual sanctions 9.6%. Priority sector lending
accounts for 40 per cent of total loans, according to the federal
Reserve Bank of India norms.

Banks also opened 524 branches in minority concentration districts in
2009 and nearly 6-lakh minority students got scholarships. In 2008,
523 branches were set up.

The UPA government has earmarked a whopping Rs 7,000 crore for
minority welfare under the 11th Five Year Plan that concludes in 2012.

The government now plans to install national-level independent
monitors to track back how Rs 3,780 are being spent for minority
welfare under the “flagship multi-sectoral development programme”, in
which lawmakers will have a say for the first time.

The multi-sectoral programme, which helps set up anything from a
school to a water pump, applies to 90 districts countrywide where
minorities make up more than 25 per cent of the population and lag
behind significantly on crucial socio-economic parameters.

The government’s approach is such that creation of assets in these
districts should also benefit the majority communities as well. UP,
Assam and Bihar have the largest number of minority districts, with
21, 12 and 6 districts respectively.

These districts were selected on the basis of 10 indicators, ranging
from literacy to the number of inoculated children.

The government hopes evaluating schemes with a fine-toothed comb and
involving area MPs, an idea of minority affairs minister Salman
Khurshid, are moves that would customise the multi-sectoral scheme.

The government feels a quick appraisal is important to ensure rapid
implementation of schemes. “These national-level independent monitors
will report back two things: are schemes being implemented in the
right way and right place, according to Khrushid.

The scheme, in its second stage now, is also called being called a top-
up phase because money from the minority affairs will be now poured
into schemes of other ministries so that minorities benefit.

The Planning Commission is also evaluating massive spending on
minority welfare as it prepares for mid-term appraisal of the 11th
Five-Year Plan.

Planning Commission member Hameed is set to personally travel to five
regions for first-hand feedback from beneficiaries.

Lessons from Congressional Black Caucus

Some historic measures for minority welfare, including an exclusive
ministry, helped the Congress sail through the last general elections
for a second term in power.

However, Muslim lawmakers, whose numbers are dwindling over time, have
seldom used parliamentary mechanisms creatively to ensure Muslims get
a fair deal. A problem with Muslim leadership is that political
leadership has often overlapped with religious leadership.

Divided along sharp party lines, India’s Muslim lawmakers seldom get a
chance to work in unison. However, they could take a leaf out of the
Congressional Black Caucus.

The Caucus helped highlight the plight of US minorities with a two-
step process: by the congressional budget process called the Humphrey-
Hawkins debate and by moving alternate budget resolutions.

The struggle of minorities in the US helped them integrate into
society and as their clout grew, Congress became more responsive to
their needs. Geographical concentrations of some minorities in the US
have led to their greater representation, though it is far behind
their share of the population.

In the 2001-2003 Congress, for instance, African-Americans comprised
12 percent of the population, but just 8.3% of the House members;
Hispanics made up 13 % of the population and just 4.4 % of the House;
and women represented 51 % of the population but just 13.6% of the
House, and 13% of the Senate.

America’s annual budget project to thrash out budgetary solutions to
address backwardness of minorities is a lesson for both Indian
minority lawmakers and those opposed to minority-specific solutions,
like the BJP.

A beginning has been made but just a fraction achieved. After all,
every change for the better begins with a small minority.

(9 votes, average: 4.11 out of 5)

Posted by Zia Haq on Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 11:09 pm

102 Responses to “Budgeting for minorities”

sanjeev says:
March 1, 2010 at 1:40 am
Mullah Zia

“The Centre underwrites a part of the travel costs of the annual Hindu
pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet, the abode of the Hindu god
Shiva ”

This is less of a pilgrimage and more of india’s strategic and
geopolitical game plan to counter the chinese arguments of Arunachal
being historically part of China. and more imporatantly a tradition
which has been part ofindian civilzation.

Further this is a trekking expedition and not any luxury trip by an
aeroplane.which your ilk makes at taxpayers money.

I hope brainwashed mullahs like you might be aware that govt of India
also promote trekking to high altitude areas…through Indian
Mountaineering Federation (IMF). I myself has been part of some IMF
funded trekking expeditions to himalayas.

So in that way its not any exclusive and out of turn activity.

Further this yatra is open to all Indian citizens cutting across
religious lines…but Haj is not.

So don’t show your ignorance…rather write something about islamophobia

Mitra Reply:

March 1st, 2010 at 11:10 am

Hey Sanjeev,
Whatever excuses and arguments you come up with, it is a fact that
Govt. of India subsidizes a Hindu pilgrimage just as it does for
Mulsims and Christians. Nowhere does the Govt. say they do it for
strategic reasons- and it is a rather absurd argument. So cool down
and try to control your hatred. Aren’t you guys always shouting about
how tolerant Hindus and Hinduism are? There is no way to infer that
from your churlish behavior! Learn to give respect to people and
debate like a civilized educated man- even when you keep making stupid
arguments. Jai Hind!

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 3:30 pm

How can you expect an uncivilized Hindu terrorist to react when
confronted with facts? All I’ve seen on this blog, is people preaching
hatred and violence bypassing all logic and sense. None of their
comments make sense and I repeat NONE. But rhetoric is what helps them
feel superior, else they are cowed down by the uneducated minority so
easily. Let them have the comfort of the rhetoric and shameless
ignorance. Ignorance is bliss ya know?

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

@Pandit sanjeev

“The Centre underwrites a part of the travel costs of the annual Hindu
pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet, the abode of the Hindu god
Shiva ” ~~~> FACT

“This is less of a pilgrimage and more of india’s strategic and
geopolitical game plan to counter the chinese arguments of Arunachal
being historically part of China” ~~~~>FICTION …

“…and more imporatantly a tradition which has been part ofindian
civilzation” ~~~> Is that all you think about your own culture and
religion? Hang your head in shame. I pity you.

“Further this is a trekking expedition and not any luxury trip by an
aeroplane.which your ilk makes at taxpayers money.”

Does that make it a FREE expedition? The Government employs choppers
for your “safety” in the mountains, massive policing arrangements for
the crowd and at times they even arrange for fake shivlings (LMAO)
when you “God” fails to appear Will you please tell me who funds
these costs? IMO It is the taxpayers money and that includes Muslims
of this country. If you are so averse to Muslims, why don’t you shun
government spending? Lets just take an example – India’s third largest
software exporter Wipro is held by a Muslim billionaire. Over a lakh
of people are employed by the company and they pay huge taxes to this
government every year. Why don’t you ask your Hindu brethren to stop
taking up jobs in Wipro and making a living out of it? The tax they
pay is also funded by that very same Muslim -held company. Do you need
more examples? OK have you heard of the companies – Cipla, Wockhardt ,
Himalaya heath Care are only to name a few of them. What about the
crores of taxes, the “Khans’ of Bollywood pay to this Government and
the revenue that their movies generate directly or indirectly ( though
people employed and associated with the movies) Why would you like to
go on a “holy” trip on Muslim money? Should’nt you shun the Government
subsidy?

“I hope brainwashed mullahs like you might be aware that govt of India
also promote trekking to high altitude areas…through Indian
Mountaineering Federation (IMF). I myself has been part of some IMF
funded trekking expeditions to himalayas. So in that way its not any
exclusive and out f turn activity.”

So ? Doesn’t make sense honey! Try harder next time and come up with
some logic, not brain-dead arguments.

“Further this yatra is open to all Indian citizens cutting across
religious lines…but Haj is not.”

LMAO I pity you now!!

“So don’t show your ignorance…rather write something about
islamophobia”

Internet Hindus have time and again proudly proved their blissful
ignorance. I’m glad you are just another one of them!

raman says:
March 1, 2010 at 8:24 am
So, they need special budget for them , they need special care from
government otherwise they warn that some of them will turn into
terrorist or help them…..what kind of logic is this………

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 3:53 pm

No one has argued that they will turn into terrorists if the
government doesn’t provide them with a separate budget. After all what
have all the subsequent governments done over all these years? They
have only pushed the minorities ( read Muslims ) to impoverishment and
under-representation without a voice. Anyone who dares speak for
Muslims is labeled a traitor or at best a supporter of Muslim League.
Anything that anyone even promises for Muslims ( let alone fulfill
them) is termed as Muslim Appeasement. How wonderfully naive.

Muslims have lived in ghettos with discrimination over the years in
this country and we don’t need any one to make nonsense announcements
for Muslims. We have lived with deprivation and can survive in our own
mumbling ways.

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 3:57 pm

Oh BTW look what poverty has done to people in the rural areas. Will
you dare call the Maoists terrorists and traitors? The argument
against it is that they are our very own civilians although they can
murder people at will,kill innocents, behead people they hate and rape
and maim women. So what? after all they are Hindu civilians, they’ve
got every right to be protected in this country. A Muslim on the other
hand is picked up by the police at random without evidence or even
gunned down in cold blood is quickly labeled a terrorist by everyone.
Why make a distinction?

raman Reply:

March 8th, 2010 at 12:51 am

Did I say I sympathize with Maoists, do not assume things…..

RE Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 3:07 am

No, I never said that. I am only putting across my point.

Ashish Reply:

March 8th, 2010 at 3:37 pm

Dear RE,
the Maoists do not fight on religious grounds; the Indian state’s
“war” against them is also “secular”.
There is tremendous amount of blood-letting going on in the names of
protecting the rights of the economic underprivileged and the rights
of the state. I have not heard any Maoist (or any CPIML member) make
any invocation to religion.
I am not sure why you think the State treats the Maoists as “Hindu
civilians”. Care to explain?

SP Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 3:34 am

Maoists justify terror as a means of pursuing their goal of
overthrowing the Indian state just because they are poor and the
deprived citizens of this country? Common a very sizable population of
this country is below the poverty line. But the Government won’t fight
a war against them because these ‘Adivasis’ happen to be our ‘own’
people although they can engage the armed forces of this
coutry,massacre them at will, abduct ,kill and behead people at will.
A 20 something Muslim guy on the other hand is picked up at random/
even better shot in broad daylight, by the police and branded a
terrorist without even a shred of evidence The News channels hail the
police and the government and all we read is “20 something Islamic
Terrorist has been nabbed who has confessed to all the bombings that
ever happened in the country over the last 10 years”. How lame is
that!

Why is there such a discrimination in the treatment between the two? A
terrorist is a terrorist! Be it a Maoist or a certain Pragya Singh
Devi. Why does the mainstream political party come up in defense of
HINDU terror accused or label any muslim ACCUSED to be a terrorist?
The same goes with the Maoists – the Government won’t wage a war
against them just because they happen to be Hindus.
Anyone who challenges the state should be an enemy of the
state .Unfortunately that is not true for the Hindus of this country.
They can get away with mass orchestrated murders and live under state
protection. (‘92 ‘02 anyone?) And so is the case with the Maoists.
They are Hindus and by default saintly and hence cannot be treated as
terrorists.

Ashish Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 12:46 pm

@SP
I will again quote from my post “there is a tremendous amount of
bloodletting going on in the names of protecting the rights of the
economic underprivileged and the rights of the state.” I think I make
it clear that Maoists are fighting only in the name of protecting the
rights of the underprivileged.
And, what gives you the idea that the Government is not fighting them?
We can differ on whether it is a “war” or not. But the human rights
activists will certainly not agree with you that the government is
going easy on the Maoists. Unless of course you say that the likes of
Arundhati Roy are basically Hindu zealots and speak for the Maoists
only because they are Hindus.
Let me quote from your reply:

“A 20 something Muslim guy on the other hand is picked up at random/
even better shot in broad daylight, by the police and branded a
terrorist without even a shred of evidence The News channels hail the
police and the government and all we read is “20 something Islamic
Terrorist has been nabbed who has confessed to all the bombings that
ever happened in the country over the last 10 years”. How lame is
that!”

You know, this seems to be straight from the alleged situation in the
North-East; where the “war” between the state and the ultras have
resulted in several cases of human rights abuses that should be the
concern of any civilized society. The state of Manipur is a case in
point. May I however point out that the affected populace is not
Muslim in Manipur.

The Indian state is not perfect; far from it. Nor is the Indian
society. But, it is a worthwhile experiment is creating a multi-hued
culture. Thanks to our founding fathers and thanks to the economic
progress unleashed in the last 20 years, the benefits of modern living
are reaching many. If you argue that Muslims face systematic and
systemic discrimination, then you must be prepared to look within and
ask why is it that no other religion in India, including the Sikhs
(even after 1984) have a problem sharing space and prospering in this
country.
Looking at everything through the religious prism makes for noisy
debates but, makes you hostage to “benefactors” like Mamata Banerjee
and Laloo Yadav.

Mitra says:
March 1, 2010 at 11:05 am
Very interesting and informative discussion! Hope you keep monitoring
how well the minority welfare schemes are progressing- this is really
important. It is good we have a decent, honest man Salman Khursheed as
the Minister- politicians like him are relatively rare in India.

sanjeev Reply:

March 1st, 2010 at 5:43 pm

@ Mitra

I can expect such sort of logic from naxal sympathisers like you….
Hope you forgot your bengali ilk got kicked by these so called
discriminated lots on 16 july 1946 (direct action day ).

Wait for some more decades another Pakistan will be demanded from your
home state. The demand will arise from your so called secular and left
ruled state.

Or else i can imagine you have admitted to dhimmi status or else burqa
clad.

Rajeev Reply:

March 2nd, 2010 at 8:05 am

This guy is muslim with hindu last name..just like Bhowmik (saba naqvi
bhaowmik).

sanjeev Reply:

March 2nd, 2010 at 1:54 pm

@ Rajeev

I M sure she is a girl and so brainwashed by so called leftist of
Students Federation of India (SFI).

She haven’t been able to come out of the vote bank politics of naxal
sypmathizers of JNU.

Mitra Reply:

March 4th, 2010 at 5:20 pm

I am Hindu and I am not a woman. I won’t give you my first name as I
teach in an university and I have a website- I am afraid Hindu
nationalist vandals will try to bother me. I am not a Naxal
sympathizer and thats not what we are discussing. The Naxals are left-
wing extremists and you guys are right-wing extremists- every
patriotic Indian should condemn both equally. The day you guys will
learn to make an actual argument instead of spewing vile hatred and
prejudice, I will be happy to have a discussion.

sanjeev Reply:

March 4th, 2010 at 5:36 pm

@ Mitra

It is you who started labelling someone as sangh parivar or bajrang
bal member

Its welcome that you want positive debate..

Btw other people like me also work for govt organizations.

Nobody has time to bother except those with whom you empathise…hope
you remember the recent karnataka episode over Taslima nasreen article
episode. who resorted to rioting ?

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:13 pm

@Sanjeev pandit.

1. I hope you are not a disgruntled shudra who is not even allowed to
enter the temple by The Brahmins or you did not marry in the same
gotra and were hounded by your own goons. You sound very irked and
disgruntled so can I assume that someone in your family decided to
kill a female child or maybe your wife does not want to put on a
ghoonghat? Is there any reason why you are so pissed off with life?

2. Regarding rioting in Karnataka :

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8544657.stm

“Police say Hindu groups joined the unrest in both places after
Muslims took to the streets. About 50 arrests have been made in
connection with the violence. ”

Muslims taking to streets to voice protest against something does not
mean they were rioting but as usual, people don’t have the guts to
accept the truth in this country. I am sure they did not pull you out
of you house and mob you down like the goons at RSS do under state
protection. Every citizen has the legitimate right to voice his/her
opinion but the fact of the matter is Hindu cowards started a riot.
Television images on “Times Now” , a clearly pro- hindutva ,pro- BJP ,
pro- right wing channel showed images of people with ORANGE flags with
“OM” inscribed on them. Now I can bet they were not Muslims. Secondly,
the Ram Sene called a bandh the very next day! WOW how did the entire
protest affect those cowards? Karnataka is BJP ruled so people have
the liberty to start a riot and get away with it just like Gujarat.
The Muslims are the ones who will be labeled terrorists any which way.

At least have the guts to accept the truth in public MORON

perpetual.dilettante says:
March 1, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Since you cite the government subsidies for the pilgrimage to Kailash
Mansorovar as a point to counter the annual Haj subsidies, numbers
around what the total outlay for the project is would have been
interesting for a fair comparison. Do not quite agree with your point
that the Muslims had not asked for the subsidies. The fact remains
that there were demands from certain quarters from within the
community for this step. Obviously the point whether or not they
represented the true sentiments of the community can well be debated.

However, your point around the government not subsidizing religious
pursuits is well taken. It needs to be applied irrespective of
religious affiliations of the vote banks, pressure groups, etc.
However, there is a bigger question here around the value of
affirmative action, specially in context of religious segments. That
is a point worth debating as well

Gopi Thomas says:
March 1, 2010 at 2:35 pm
If money would have solved Muslim “backwardness” , countries like KSA
would be producing qualified engineers and journalists and teachers
leave alone world class scientists. They recently opened a “world
class” university; minister E Ahmed represented India in the
inauguration ceremony – 80% of the student body was foreign students
whom they had ‘bought” with lucrative scholarships. A student from
Minnesota stated that he will have to spend $20,000 in a state Univ in
Minnesota; now he gets paid $20,000 affter all the expenses; he did
not know how long he could last there in KSA because the public
outside the walls of the Univ do not want a Univ there.

Why is Pakistan so backward with madrasites killing left and right,
with nosystem to speak of other than a rot corrupt military system,
if, as the author says “elite’ Muslims migrated to Pakistan.

Hyderabad (Telengana) was under Nizam rule for yearsa nd years. Why
are Muslims educationally so backward there?

Why iin Kerala they are still backward educationally (although they
are significantly better compared to all India Muslim average)? And a
smaller minority there, Christians, excelled in education,
industriousness, contributions..

The author talks about bank loans. Muslims are promoting “Islamic
Bank” as the right way of banking. I have seen Muslim students being
advised on some of their “exclusive” sites not to seek student loan,
and to take lower level job rather than pursuing higher studies with
student loans.

We have to bring all up to participate in a vibrant, growing India.
Money, if at all, is only a very small part of the equation. It is
attitudes, entrenched belief systems, uncompromising stickiness to a
set of rules formed in 650 when conditions were different, learning
Arabic (instead of English) etc etc. If these do not change, whatever
money is allocated, we will still have this dialogue of backwardness
fifty years from now, 100 years from now.

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:17 pm

Your arguments are best very naive and you obviously know that. If you
still need an explanation, I’m ready to debate

sanjeev says:
March 1, 2010 at 5:55 pm
@ Gopi

Govt should resort to following Measures for development of muslims

1. Sharia laws
2. Islamic banking
3 Education only through madrasa: this should include courses on
geography and hisory of saudi arabia, science based on quran, arabic
language
4. Compulsory pilgrimage for all muslims to Haj
5. Freedom to kill as many as infidels as they wish so that they can
achieve ultimate aim: jannat with hooris

I think then they can have proper development of their personality as
well as material progress

Ziauddin Shafi says:
March 1, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Muslims of Hyderabad were never backward during the Nizam’s rule.
Since the last 30 years or so, the criminal nexus between MIM and the
Congress, who treat the Hyderabadi Muslims as their vote bank, have
deliberately worked against the education of Muslims in the city. So
much so that government schols functioning there do not have teaching
staff, water, electricity and toilets – forcing poor students to drop
out. Government-funded Urdu medium schools are in the worst possible
conditions – unbelievable is the word. Despite all these Muslim
traitors and “secular congress” traitors, the Muslims of Hyderabad and
Telangana are struggling to find their feet. The northern Indian
Muslims are comparatively better off – they have leaders like Salman
Khursheed and Sayyida who are sincere, honest and hard-working. Hope
they also come down to Telangana & Hderabad to look into the affairs
here.

Shoeb K Reply:

March 1st, 2010 at 11:19 pm

@Shafi

Are you implying that there was a “conspiracy” to deprive Hyderabad
Muslim students of education? Are you saying that Muslims in Hyd were
highly educated during Nizam rule and 30 years after independence, and
then due to misadministration or stupidity or conspiracy of leaders,
the education started going down???

How do other people (including the so called most backward DAaits
among us) get educated? Sam Pitroda, the telecom architect of India,
came from a Dalit background. Modern india has lakhs of stories like
that.

You may be right that some Muslim eladers and congress leaders
coluded. At the end of the day, our community has to look into
ourselves — are we doing right? Are we giving emphasis to education,
like other communities are giving? Or, are we satisfied iwth menial
trading jobs? Do w e want our daughters get educated and working and
standing on their feet? Do we give emphasis to readinga nd writing (at
a basic level as well as at a literary level)? Arent most of our
people victims of mullahs and maulavis, this way or no way? Do many of
us really interact with otehr religious members in an intimate way?
Unless we sort out these, we will always be blaming some others and
not doing the right thing.

Ashish Reply:

March 2nd, 2010 at 3:50 pm

@ Shoeb K,
till today I did not know that Sam Pitroda came from a Dalit family; I
suspect very few others on this blog did either.
The great thing is, we don’t know and we don’t care. It is enough for
us that Sam Pitroda is what he is, a visionary with the gumption to
get things done.
Is Azim Premji a Muslim? Well, yes. Is he an example? Of course. Is he
an example only for Muslims?

” Modern india has lakhs of stories like that.” .. yes, and thank you
for making this simple statement.

Let’s worry about evolving a “post-religious” identity. We must.
The questions you raise are not limited to Muslims; I think the
Muslims as a community can benefit by making common cause with the
poor Hindus/ Jains/ Christians and demand that the government deliver
on education, women’s rights and childrens’ health and nutrition. Of
course, the community must play its part in ensuring that religion is
quoted as an argument to stymie those initiatives.
@Ziauddin Shafi I think you are not informed about the sorry state of
affairs in the northern part of the country. The lack of leadership
that you talk about, is even more pronounced in North and it shows up
in all the indices.

UI Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:37 pm

@Shoeb K Reply:

“Are you implying that there was a “conspiracy” to deprive Hyderabad
Muslim students of education? ”

Why only in Hyderabad, look at the vitriol everyone spewed when there
was a proposal to set up a branch of AMU in Murshidabad, West Bengal.
AMU may not be an Oxford but education surely will help the most
deprived and the backward. Do you think it was fair to unnecessarily
criticize the setting up of a branch of AMU? You know what, you need
to get out of you comfort zone to see what people have done to Muslims
in this country. I am an engineer and I’ve seen the nasty face of
educators at every stage of my school/university. I was always singled
out because I was the only Muslim in the class who topped exams year
after year. It is exactly things like these that make people cringe
and say that they do. Accept the fact that there has been a targetted
marginalization of Muslim in this country

“How do other people (including the so called most backward DAaits
among us) get educated? Sam Pitroda, the telecom architect of India,
came from a Dalit background. Modern india has lakhs of stories like
that.”

Have you ever heard of something called reservations? When the most un-
deserving candidates are given preferences in places that matter, what
do you expect in this country? Abolish all forms of reservations or
apply them equally for ALL economically backward sections of the
society. Only then you will get a clear idea of what the reality is.

“You may be right that some Muslim eladers and congress leaders
coluded. At the end of the day, our community has to look into
ourselves — are we doing right? Are we giving emphasis to education,
like other communities are giving? Or, are we satisfied iwth menial
trading jobs? Do w e want our daughters get educated and working and
standing on their feet? Do we give emphasis to readinga nd writing (at
a basic level as well as at a literary level)? Arent most of our
people victims of mullahs and maulavis, this way or no way? Do many of
us really interact with otehr religious members in an intimate way?
Unless we sort out these, we will always be blaming some others and
not doing the right thing.”

You must be kidding my dear! You seriously must be kidding me! Talking
about things from the comfort of your home with a laptop in front of
you is something different than the stark poverty and alienation that
Muslims face in this country. Get out of the 5-6 Urban cities for
God’s sake. You cannot expect anyone to get a decent education unless
he is lucky like me or you, when there is abject poverty , when people
can hardly make ends meet if at all. I’ve seen most Muslims living in
ghettos even in so called urban cities where there is hardly a decent
school in the vicinity and you talk about education? Have you ever
wondered why Muslims are discriminated when it comes to getting a
rented house in a Hindu locality?

You talk about the status of women in our society( are you seriously a
Muslim or just using a Muslim name? )

“Do w e want our daughters get educated and working and standing on
their feet?”
Seriously? Any and every educated family that I know of and some very
poor families insist on their daughters going to school to get an
education. Esp when it comes to urban areas, people are more open to
allowing women to work. You seriously must be kidding me or you are
very detached from the society !!

“Arent most of our people victims of mullahs and maulavis, this way or
no way?”

Again you are making sweeping generalizations.

“Do many of us really interact with otehr religious members in an
intimate way?”
What do you mean by an Intimate way? Of course where the majority are
people from other communities, you mingle with them , at school , at
work , in your neighborhood. Living in ghettos does not mean that you
never interact with anyone!

A Banerjee says:
March 1, 2010 at 8:50 pm
The biggest enemy of the muslim community is the muslim himself. There
is an intersting article comparing muslims and jews. Although jews
consist of only 0.02 % of the world’s population, they have won 130
Nobel Prizes. Muslims are 20% of the world’s population, but have won
only 7 Nobels. I think that Muslims must stop this tirade of being
‘minorities’ and start working for themselves.

What has number to do with progress? If that be so the case then how
doyou explain the parsis who are doing so well for themselves?

The trouble with Mr Zia and other ’secular’ people is that they waste
their time and energy (please see that I am not mentioning ‘brains’)
brooding over some conspiracy theory or some ’sachar’ report instead
of using their time productively. This imacts the minds of young and
gullible muslim youth who start thinking that the entire nation is
against them.

Their was a very nice ad campaign by Idea in which Abhishek Bachhan
says that their will be no community, only mobile numbers. That’s the
way it should be…..

UI Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:38 pm

BS

Anil Kumar says:
March 1, 2010 at 10:04 pm
All the religious pilgrimage subsisdy given to non-muslim you have
rehashed is the progeny of haz subsidy.> So muichy noise was made that
various state govts hand have bene forced..

No hindu no chrstian wnats thatsubsisdy only muslims are the one who
always need crutch for anything and everything..

They insisst that they will nto join mainstream education but they
must eb given job..

State of those hindus who confine themselves withitn the scriptute
study are not different we don;t see them cribbing..

If you want job start learnign physics chemistry math those Quran and
hadith reading is nto going to give you job..

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

“No hindu no chrstian wnats thatsubsisdy only muslims are the one who
always need crutch for anything and everything..

They insisst that they will nto join mainstream education but they
must eb given job..”

BS

Raju Kurien says:
March 2, 2010 at 6:51 am
The problem with Muslims is that they do not have a proper perspective
or they refuse to accept the reality. For example, This Javed Naqvi, a
reporter for DAwn, (a Pakistani based newspaper) always writes about
how bad it is for Muslims in india; how the goovernment goes on
destroying Muslims.. This guy is a Pakistani, living in and enjoying
Delhi, and he is always venomous about India– May be it is jealousy………

Muslims acn be a “suppressed moinority” (as they think) or an
aggressive contributor to national progress; they have to make that
choice..Government can go on pouring tax payers’ money for the so-
called upliftment; but the desire for upliftment and work towards
upliftment has to come from muslims themselves,a nd not througha ny
government programs.

sanjeev Reply:

March 2nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm

@ Raju

This so called peace activist Javed Naqv is no less than Taliban. I
don’t know whether he is Indian national ?

Regarding the much admired masiha of muslims Justice Rajendra sachar’s
credentials…let me highlight one of high ideological fact : He is so
called human right and civil rights activists of Arundhati Roy gang.
We can seriously doubt his credentials as a judge of supreme court or
distinguished jurist. I thibk this sachar committee is all a game plan
of congress left combine.

Although i personally support the govt should do efforts to educate
and elevate living standard of all deprived citizens irrespective of
minority or majority.

But why only the special emphasis on muslims ?

Why can’t they start some programme for all poor people of india and
allocate separate budget targets for this group ?

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:40 pm

Now comes conspiracy theory LMAO

shiuli says:
March 2, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Budgeting for minorities is a much required factor, coz if the gov’t
does not we have big brain drain like MF Husain, escaping to Qatar,
taking Citizen-ship there. We have violent clashes over Taslima
Nasreen’s outcry; also The Great Khan who has already been awarded
Dato-ship in Malaysia, by calling Pakistan, Our Friendly Neighbour,
may condemn Indian Citizenship one fine day.

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:41 pm

BS

ramesh says:
March 2, 2010 at 3:36 pm
What is holding back the muslims, is their literalism in
religion ,which is evident in all their aspects.Why arent the Parsees,
christians or sikh held back.Because they have opend their minds.
Muslims consider everyone else as jews only, their born enemy.They
should see the broader sense of the message.

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

Because all the hatred,vile and discrimination is directed towards the
Muslims , not towards the Parsees , Christians and Sikhs

S Singh Reply:

March 8th, 2010 at 11:41 pm

So, there is no animosity to anybody except Muslims.. Could it be that
something is wrong with Muslism?

Why do Muslims have problem everywhere? Be Philippines, thailand, US,
UK, germanty. denmark, Switzerland — why even in the so called Islamic
countries ((OIC)? Oh why!

SP Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 3:36 am

The Problem is that you have become so ignorant that you cannot
comprehend History or Geography or Geo-Politics OR probably you don’t
wish to. At least don’t sound such a moron on the internet.

Ashish Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 12:07 am

@RE
“Because all the hatred,vile and discrimination is directed towards
the Muslims , not towards the Parsees , Christians and Sikhs”
poor souls! Muslims! No one loves them! Boo, hoo, hoo!

Rajeev says:
March 2, 2010 at 10:35 pm
I think instead of budgeting for minority (read MUSLIMS, MUSLIMS and
MUSLIMS), why don’t we send them to their land which we allocated for
them in 1947. The pakistan was meant for muslims of south asia. If you
muslims think, you are not getting fair deal, migrate to the land that
was created for giving muslims fair deal.

Jinnah also demanded same kind of things before partition to safegaurd
the interests of muslims. The then-congress decided not to give in to
Jinnah’s loony demands and agreed for partition. Now after 62 years,
we are being forced to agree to Jinnah’s demand or face terror ending
into another partition of country. How long can this blackmail go on?

Pl. show me a single country in the world where muslim minority has
outperformed other communities…None… Are all these non-muslims country
guilty of this or is the in the muslims gene to stay and ghetto and be
backward? Do you want Sachar to go in all those countries and then
produce a report implying that muslims are denied opportunities.

There is something very wrong with muslim mindset. They are
themseleves to blame for their misery. Why is that Hindus, jews,
chinese are doing so well in USA? Why is that non-muslims do better
than muslims in almost every country?

These muslims have to come out to their eternal victimhood syndrome.

L Mirza Reply:

March 3rd, 2010 at 12:12 am

@Rajeev

Many things you mention are right. For our country to propel, we need
to bring all into the equation. Youa re absolutely right that the
backwardness of msulims can eb squarely attributed to teh community
itself -its religiosu leaders, political leaders etce tc. A
fundamental aspect of Islam as oppsoed to various other “movements” ,
is that the role of the individual or individuality is suppressed;
hence no major innovations, initiatives, pathbreaking inventions,
methosds etc etc.

Government money will do only little. The mindset has to eb changed;
it ahs to come from within; and lot of forces work against that. It is
a real problem; as Zia mentioned in an earlier blog, muslims have to
handle it themselves.. They should know that the world would not wait
for this, and they will be left further behind if they do not acvt.

The sorry situation is that whether we like it or not, we have to
somehow solve this…

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:43 pm

Why don’t you leave this country instead if you hate the people living
in this country? Or is is that you have no place on this earth to call
a Hindu State? haha India is NOT a Hindu country. If you cannot live
here, go and find a place for yourself

Rajeev says:
March 2, 2010 at 10:39 pm
The Sachar report is not an extensive survey but a SAMPLE survey. We
have all seen how surveys have been proved wrong time and again.

The need of the hour for muslims is to shun excessive religiousity,
waste less time curing non-muslims and concentrate on education
followed by search for jobs. You can not be employed on high position
(IPS, IAS, Army etc.) till you get proper education. Even a police
constable in maharashtra police is graduate.

sanjeev Reply:

March 3rd, 2010 at 6:00 pm

@ Rajeev

I seriously doubt credentials of Rajendra sachar. he is an
ideologically indoctrinated person and not neutral, unbiased
researcher.

Just google his name..he has association with People’s Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL)

In the recently arrested Kobad ghandy case his organisation has been
mentioned by delhi police among the naxal sympathisers.

I have personally attended many of the debates and discussions
frequented by this gang of naxal sympathisers like Gautam Navlakha,
Achin Vinayak, DSU, etc. their views clealry state that they are
chinese protege and they aim to bring china type revolution in india.

I seriously doubt how can such a person was appointed chairman of such
a committee.

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:44 pm

You need some money for education which they have been deprived of
over the years

Shoeb K Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 6:20 pm

RE

So you are saying that somehow government “deprived ” them of
education, and now have to give them money for education??

Do you believe that our people (I assume you are a muslim) give utmost
importance to education like other commun ities? Even Baniya children
grow up reciting “vidya dhan sarv dhanal pradhan”.. What is our
children taught in Madrasi??

RE Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 4:05 am

No one is begging for alms here. It’s only the Hindus who beg for
Money & Jobs and you will keep begging for your lives. Don’t worry the
Government won’t take away your reservations any soon. You can
obviously beg for even more.
If you are going to tell me that ^%$^% like Mulayam Shi% and people
like him demand BS for Muslims, I pity you and your ignorance of the
reality of this country.

Secondly, you must be naive to think that people think in terms of
community when it comes to education. You must be so out of this world
my HINDU brother! (Using a Muslim name does not make you one) The fact
of the matter is, yes people want education for their children and the
fact of the matter is that a majority of the Muslim population in
India is living foot-to-mouth. I have grown up in a poor Muslim
neighborhood and you can bet a very good number of children went to
proper schools. They may not have been the DPS’s of this country but
yes everyone valued education.Economics is the major concern my dear,
not community based ignorance. When you cannot even earn Rs20 a day,
you cannot possibly dream of sending your child to a regular school.

I come from a Naxal affected place so you very well imagine the state
of affairs and to add to that I grew up in a Muslim neighborhood with
a couple of Madarsas. I can tell you, even people who have studied in
these very madarsas completed their education and then took up
respectable and decent government jobs ,quite unlike your Hindu naxal
brothers just 40-50 kms away from my place. A few of us were lucky
ones who grew up in middle class families, who could study in English
medium schools and landed up with jobs with MNCs. Unfortunately most
are not so lucky. You know what, either you have never seen poverty in
and around you so it’s very comfortable to pass sweeping remarks or
you are just another prejudiced and ignorant Hindu on the internet. If
you are the former (n I doubt it ) all I would ask you is to leave the
comfort of your house to visit a Madarsa .If you are the later, I can
only pity you

sanjeev says:
March 3, 2010 at 5:51 pm
@ Rajeev

Here is an interesting article from Tavleen Singh (who i think can’t
be labelled as sangh parivar member as she happens to be a sikh and
married to muslim

http://www.indianexpress.com/storyOld.php?storyId=59288

I hope ignorant persons like mitra and other so called secularists
accept the true reality after going through this article or else they
will label Tavleen as sanghi.

sanjeev

Rajeev says:
March 4, 2010 at 2:45 am
Sanjeev,
Did you compare debate done on NDTV/CNN-IBN on MF Hussain and Taslima
Nasreen? It exposed the hypocrisy of Indian secualrism. I could not
control my laughter listening to arguements from Shabnam hashmi.

I have come to the conclusion that soft terrorist (ideological) from
muslim community are oxygen for all the terror activities in the
world. These are the people who should be arrested and may be
eliminated Isarael style.

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Yes people like you must be singled out Israeli style

[Reply]

sanjeev says:
March 4, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Here is another article exposing the hypocrisy of the so called
secular gang of india:

Its by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, from centre for policy research, new delhi

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/freedoms-our-defence/586662/

sanjeev says:
March 4, 2010 at 5:51 pm
@ Rajeev

sorry rajeev,

i have given up watching news on these sensationlist channels..i only
watch DD news or r news on FM gold radio.

i know this Indian secularism is a biggest joke in the world

Anything can happen in india in the name of secularism and freedom of
speech for the sake of minority (read muslim )

RE Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 4:46 pm

Two Losers in this country Pandit Rajeev and Pandit Sanjeev have got
HT Blog as the only place to vent their frustration. Is it something
else?

Ashish says:
March 6, 2010 at 11:24 am
After all these serious comments, I think we all need a comic break..
quoting from an email just received:
A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy
International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in
possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a
calculator.

At a morning press conference, the Attorney General said he believes
the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not
identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying
weapons of maths instruction.

“Al-Gebra is a problem for us”, the Attorney General said. “They
derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on
tangents in search of absolute values. They use secret code names like
‘X’ and ‘Y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns’, but we have
determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of
medieval with co-ordinates in every country.

As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, “There are 3 sides to
every triangle”.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Obama said, “If God had
wanted us to have better weapons of maths instruction, he would have
given us more fingers and toes.’

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more
intelligent or profound statement by the President. It is believed
that the Nobel Prize for Physics will follow.

Paritosh Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

ha ha ha ha . nice!!!

sanjeev says:
March 6, 2010 at 11:56 am
hilarious !!!

SKS Mumbai says:
March 6, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Why Physics?
They don’t award nobles for Maths or Philosophy? Time they did

Gopi Thomas Reply:

March 6th, 2010 at 5:37 pm

@SKS

And these must be reserved for Muslims because of the historical
sidelining Westerners have done to them..

So far Muslims have not stated theat the nobels Jews received were
undeserving; so you have to give them credit!

Ashish says:
March 6, 2010 at 2:39 pm
when they run out of existing Nobels; one for each year Obama is in
office..
There is probably no rule against multiple Nobel awards for multiple
disciplines in the same year to the same person; while so far such a
rule would have been largely academic, I think with Obama, this rule
will soon be tested.
Literature Nobel is his for the taking .. with all the fiction in his
speeches (even if he has to share the Nobel with his speechwriters)..

Raju Kurien says:
March 6, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Mosab hasan Yousef, an ex Hamas leader, who later became a Mosad spy,
and converted to Christianity, has written a book titled “Son of
Hamas”. Wall Street journal interviewed him on his opinions,
perspectives….His father is also a leader of Hamas..

Do you consider your father as a fanatic? “he is not a fanatic; he is
a very moderate, logical person. What matters is not whether my father
is fanatic or not; he is doing the will of a fanatic God. It does not
mind whether he is a terrorist or a traditional muslim. At the end of
the day a traditional Muslim is doing the will of a fanatic,
fundamentalist, terrorist God. I know this is harsh to say. Most
governments avoid this subject..

“the problem is not in Muslims. the problem is with their God. They
need to be liberated from their God. He is the biggest enemy. It has
been 1400 years they have been lied to.

SKS Mumbai says:
March 7, 2010 at 10:08 am
So ‘Government funded religious travel’ (let’s call it GFRT) isn’t
‘Unique’ but only Haj subsidy has been targeted! So unfair!

Research does help, even if, of ‘directed’ kind, to pick facts, as
might be necessary for the ‘conclusion’ one has chosen to present. But
’secular’ journalism, at least here in India, is easier than that. For
facts aren’t needed nor is their careful selection and for those on
the cutting edge of secular journalism, fact invention is routine.
Certainly, by those standards, Mr Zia is struggling.

To come up with ‘govt funded religious travel’ or GFRT for questioning
the criticism of Haj subsidy, suggests that research was involved.
Instead of limiting himself to any one of either GFRT or subsidy, he
uses both and implied smartly, that only Haj subsidy is criticized,
without ever saying that both are/aren’t the same. But there may be
’small’ differences between the two:

Subsidy of course is subsidy.

GFRT does not seem to be a well defined concept, but Mr Zia must be
referring to the costs involved in provision of various facilities and
services provided by Govt. for the pilgrims. These costs include a
part for the services rendered in India and another for outside India.

For e.g. in case of Kailash Mansarovar, these are free medical
inspection, security, escort cover, insurance cover and communication
links and 4 days acco. provided by Govt of Delhi (at Delhi) etc, most
of these within India. Then there is also a Rs 3250/pilgrim payment
made by Govt to Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) for arranging
boarding and lodging on the Indian side.

Indian side expenses for Haj, include cost of Haj houses, built in a
number of state capitals (including a capital cost for the facility,
often funded by the concerned state govt. There is a dedicated Haj
terminal at Delhi Airport (can’t say for others), again involving a
capital cost. I am not sure if medical tests, security etc is involved
or not. There is also a fully dedicated Haj department maintained by
Air India throughout the year.

For expenses outside India:
In case of Mansarovar, nothing much is known. Possibly, the escort,
security and medical facilities continue to be provided on the chinese
side as well. Interestingly, complaints regarding poor facilities on
Chinese side are brushed aside by MEA, saying Chinese want a revision
in the rates (last set in 1995) for better facilities.

Foreign component of Haj expenses: expenditure on a contingent of
seasonal local staff, supervisors, data entry operators, drivers and
messengers, appointed in SA, a contingent of more than 600 personnel
(incl. about 135 doctors, nurses and paramedics) on short-term
deputation to SA, hospital facilities (about 100 beds) at Makkah,
Madinah, medicines, ambulances, facilitation and coordination centres
at Jeddah, Makkah probably, Madinah also.

What is also interesting to note, is the kind of answers MEA gives for
questions raised in LS or RS:

1. Whenever there is a broad query (broad as in, about ’subsidy’ and
‘other facilities’) the answer, in case of Haj; includes a number for
subsidy and another for expenses, while for Mansarovar, it is only one
figure.

2. When there is a precise question such as: ‘ whether the Union
Government has been extending ’subsidy’ ( no mention of facilities)
for pilgrimage of Indians abroad’, the answer never goes beyond Haj
( e.g. LS Unstarred Question no 3086 http://meaindia.nic.in/parliament/ls/2006/08/23ls07.html)

3. When a specific question was asked : whether Govt
would also consider providing any subsidy on the lines of subsidy
being provided for Haj Pilgrimage, the smart state minister for MEA
repeats the same Rs 3250 story (of course never uses the word subsidy
for this) and concludes with : ‘Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and Haj are
essentially different so far as the number of pilgrims (not enough
devotees? ) , mode of travel and the nature of terrain are involved.
Therefore, there may not be a direct comparison between the two!
http://meaindia.nic.in/parliament/rs/2006/05/11rs27.htm

Thus for some ’strange’ reason, Govt. has consistently failed to apply
the word ‘Subsidy’ in case of Mansarovar costs. This could mean either
a ‘consistent error’ or most likely an accounting conspiracy designed
to discriminate against the poor minority, and worst of all, signed
off by CAG as well!

For the sharper but unfortunately oppressed beings, another ’small’
difference :
- the total amount paid for 2002, 03, 04 for Mansarovar was around Rs.
0.43 Crs (or Rs 43 lacs), while for HaJ 2007 and 2008, it was more
than Rs. 44.00 crs.
-Haj subsidy that Mr Zia shows at Rs 390 crs is over and above that.
Not just that, it seems that subsidy figures for Haj continue to be
presented as ‘provisional’ for last 4-5 years. (i.e. besides the
subsidy).

Mr Zia could have checked a bit of History as well, as he has so
carefully listed out the ‘proposed’ subsidy in Karnataka and the one
announced in AP a ‘couple’ of years ago.

Clearly then, there isn’t ANY VALID reason to target Haj subsidy
alone!! Except the Discriminatory approach, what say Zia?

SKS Mumbai says:
March 7, 2010 at 10:26 am
Can someone tell me whether, there is some difference between the
Kailash Mansarovar, Tibet (for which Govt ‘underwrites’ a part of the
cost, as indicated by Zia) and the Mansarovar, China (for which a
’subsidy’ is under consideration (as Zia says quoting media reports)

Ashish Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 11:35 am

@SKS,
“Can someone tell me whether, there is some difference between the
Kailash Mansarovar, Tibet (for which Govt ‘underwrites’ a part of the
cost, as indicated by Zia) and the Mansarovar, China (for which a
’subsidy’ is under consideration (as Zia says quoting media reports)”

Only Zia can answer this.. but, on past performance, even if he deigns
to, it is likely to decry your tendency to split hairs..

SKS Mumbai Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 2:15 pm

@Ashish
You mean just tendency?
That is all we do, apart from full time hate mongering, that is

Ashish Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 4:03 pm

aha.. but, Mr Zia is a gentleman, not given to invectives

SKS Mumbai says:
March 7, 2010 at 11:34 am
‘Show me an economically underprivileged Hindu who will find fault
with government help to make a dip in the holy Ganges a reality? Or a
Muslim quibbling over a lifetime visit to Mecca, courtesy government
help?’

Now that is a profound question. Perhaps Zia can show us an
‘economically privileged’ Hindu who will find fault with government
help to make a trip to switzerland a reality, or riding a chauffeur
driven BMW (all expense paid) for that matter?

First of all what difference does it make, whether you are talking
about an economically privileged or underprivileged person here,
unless that bounty is meant for reducing that economic gap?

(BTW, I am not sure if Haj susbsidy is only for underpriveleged ones,
and even if, it is, the validity of above question does not change)

Secondly, on what basis does a secular Government decide that my all-
expense trip to swiss alps, is spiritually less important than
someone’s dip in Ganges and more importantly, why should a secular
govt be even required to measure spirituality quotient?

Gopi Thomas Reply:

March 8th, 2010 at 4:51 pm

@SKS

I read somewhere that Haj subsidies were never requested by the
community. I believe it was instituted during the oil shock of early
1970s and institutionalized ever since. This may be one situation
where one smart politician created a permanent vote bank through this
master stroke.

ajay says:
March 8, 2010 at 10:10 am
those politicians who are using vote bank politics must be dealt with
severely.other people who easily get caugt by words of these soundrels
should apply there common sense

S Singh says:
March 8, 2010 at 5:29 pm
There is no dispute that everything possible should be done to uplift
ALL., to make all contributors to a great country and humanity.

Money should be spent wisely; it also should be spent on all who need,
not just Muslims.

Money is only one, and may be even a lesser part, as far as upliftment
of Muslims are concerned. Unlike Hindus, Christians, jews, budhists
etc they do not give much emphasis to education. It simply is not
their “core” belief. When Hindu and kids belonging to other religions
right from early ages are inculcated “Vidya dhan sarva dhanal
pradhan” , the focus of Muslim kids is memorizing Quran. After that,
they get into petty trades.

Unless education is considered as the most important factor and
embraced by the family and community, nothing will happen; complaints
will remain.

SKS Mumbai says:
March 8, 2010 at 8:20 pm
@Gopi
I don’t know, but it can’t be that simple.

SKS Mumbai says:
March 8, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Quote:
‘While it gives Air India 150,000 assured passengers every year
(that’s the total number of seats on all Indian carriers criss-
crossing the country on any given day), helping it KEEP AFLOAT, the
grant has been turned into a stick to beat Muslims with’

This is really all that it takes!
One article by a non-entity, (he/she could be anything, journalist,
activist, third rate self proclaimed intellectual, rabble rouser,
dancer, singer, whatever. Even if he wasn’t, that article alone will
make him a front ranking secular warrior), asserting that Haj subsidy
is really a subsidy for Air India.

Watch that dumb ‘assertion’ turn into a foundational truth for the
Indian secularrazzi, to be repeated so many times that, Hitler would
have them rather Goebbels.

It just does not matter that the fraudulent claim is immediately
thrashed to pieces by precise facts and irrefutable documentary
evidence, the ‘Truth’ once revealed, is the Divine Law for our secular
believers. To question the law is apostasy or a communal propaganda by
Hindutva forces, or as Mr Zia claims, a ’stick’ to beat poor Muslims
with.

For a moment, even if we accept that fraudulent claim, what changes
Mr. Zia? Muslims are still getting a subsidy, aren’t they? Or can you
book a return ticket for Patna-Delhi-Jeddah for Rs.12000 (or Rs 16000
for last year only)? Bulk discounts? Yes why not, we will see later
how much difference your direct chartering can make. Unfortunately
facts happen to be facts and if they are communal so be it (in the
meanwhile Mr Zia could check whether direct charter negotiations were
attempted at some point of time or not and what went wrong). Here are
the facts:

1. It isn’t 150,000 prize customers in the first place, the number for
2010 is more like 120,000 and that after annual increases of the order
of 10,000-15,000. approximately 50% of that is carried by Saudi
airlines.
2. Spare/standby aircrafts are a part of any commercial airlines
fleet, but they are primarily used when regular aircrafts are sent for
scheduled or unscheduled maintenance. Haj means 2-3 months of a steep
peak forcing most of the commercial airlines to opt for short term
leases, called wet lease. Being short-term, they are by definition
much more expensive than longer leases. It does not take an Einstein
to understand that the capital cost of the wet leased aircrafts will
have to be recovered from the passengers who fly during that peak
window. For e.g. If you look at the state electricity boards, their
normal procurement costs (for the pool) will rarely exceed Rs 4-5/
unit. But during peak months, the incremental power is often purchased
at Rs. 10-15/unit range. It matters, but little, that your requirement
for those few months constitutes a huge volume, the annual fixed cost
will still be recovered during those two months. Further, it seems
that many of the aircrafts have to undertake one trip without
passengers (i.e. no backhaul)
3. If AIR INDIA was really saving itself by grabbing the prized Haj
Service, why does it keep on requesting the Govt to allow other
airlines in the space? Isn’t that Monopolistic, Mr Zia ? Last publicly
known attempt was around 2008. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/haj-subsidy-has-air-india-fuming/360651/0
4. BTW Muslims anyway have the option of not going through Haj
committee and a large number of Muslims actually go through private
tour operators (~ 40,000 or so), so why are suffering the tyranny of
AI? Why? Especially when it also gives the so-unfair-stick to Hindutva
Guys ?

But all these are lies, a hindutva propaganda, sanghi hate mongering,
the only Truth and what we need to remember for ever is that, it is
not the ‘Poor Hajis’ but AI who is being subsidized. (soon we will
discover it wasn’t even AI, it were the vile Bramhins-Bania who were
fattening themselevs)

You know what, some 100 years down the line, secular historian will
cite these and assert Haj subsidy was a myth and contrary evidence
will be subjected to secular tools called contextualizing History and
presenting multiple perspectives and another 100 years Haj subsidy
won’t even be a subject.

S Singh Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Muslims will go on itching, bitching, scratching…

The only solution is dictatorship (why do you think almost all Muslim
countries are dictatorships?) or someother way of controlling, because
they respect power; they just cannot operate independently in a
democracy. Time and again it ahs been demonstrated that they cannot
form, suatain a democracy.

India will remain a democracy, meaning the scratching and bitching
will be with us for a long time, unless a region is converted to
another Pakistan and round up ALL Muslims to that region.

Rajeev Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 9:06 pm

No all muslims should be packed up and sent to pakistan. No more
divisions for these ungrateful people.

Rajeev says:
March 8, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Is this RE another avatar of Soft-terrorits Bobby?

sanjeev Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 6:59 pm

@ Rajeev

Tonight i will get to meet biggest anti national..Javed Naqvi (dawn
reporter from delhi )

I want to ask him some tough questions ..

If any knowledge u can share about this nut ?

Rajeev Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 9:05 pm

Ask him just one thing. Is he Indian or Pakistani?

If he is Indian and beleives in secularism, why is he with Pakistan on
Kashmir.

Secondly ask him what happened to 20% hindu population of pakistans.
How many guharat massacre took place in Pakistan?

SKS Mumbai says:
March 8, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Aah Rs 390 crs isn’t it.
Last statement by Dr Tharoor pegs it at some Rs 826 crs for 2009!and
still counting all these numbers continue to be Provisional.

Rajeev says:
March 9, 2010 at 1:30 am
I have always wondered if Hajj performed on khairat of infidel nation
(India) is haram or Halal.

I am pretty sure that all the muslims perforing Hajj on donations
doled out by hindu-dominated India are commiting shirk and their hajj
is invalid according to Islam.

I guess most of the muslims are destined for jahannum.

S Singh Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 2:35 pm

Does not matter, as long as it is free.

It is the government we should blame; and by that voters like us. what
the politicians have done is one more way of institutionalizing
“minority” , this time with huge allocation. Now the bar of spending
is set high, and every following year it will be higher than the prior
year.

Like any government spending schemes, only 10% will go to the purpose;
other 90% will go to the b ureaucracy and contractors!

sanjeev Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 6:50 pm

ha ha ha ha !

where else they can go ?

mulleh ki dor masjid tak

RE Reply:

March 20th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

arey pandit ki langot apni dhoti sambhalo yaar

SKS Mumbai says:
March 9, 2010 at 9:35 pm
@Ashish

In RE, you have one of the original ones. His views on Premjee’s
Billions and stuff are part of the original curriculum. Don’t be
surprised, when you are told:
1. It is Indian Muslims living in the gulf whose earnings drive the
larger part of Indian economy.

2. That Indira Gandhi used her charm to get cheap oil from the house
of Sauds and thus Hindus have been living off Muslim charity for ages.

3.That there is a conspiracy under which muslim intellectuals are
being murdered and this has gone for many decades now.

4. That “Urdu” was eliminated as a language to prevent muslim
advancement.

5. Some more that I came across recently: the conspiracy against
Muslims also include: introducing “gate-keeper” mentality-type service
commission exams and entrance exams for professional courses .That a
scientist was picked to become a Muslim President of India, to
diminish OR extinguish his contribution to science.
That (hold your breath) Shahrukh Khan and Amir Khan have Hindu wives,
because they are rich and famous – and their wives will inherit their
crores.

6. Of course we all know about 9/11, 26/11, Karkare, Batla and types.
Recent violence in Karnataka on Tasleema’s article was also a Hindutva
conspiracy.(Confirmed already as I see)

7. Upper caste Hindus joined hands with British in a conspiracy to
weaken Islamic Kings, freedom fight was mainly a Muslim venture, but
Gandhi and Nehru forged another conspiracy to divide India, so that
Muslims were weakened.

8. His views on how state is dealing with Maoists because they are
Hindus shouldn’t surprise anyone. The difference lies, not in
perceptions but in definitions itself.

Reasoned debate is useless and anyway impossible. Facts must adhere to
’secular’ requirement else they are conspiracies. When even fairly
well ensconced people, from the core of mainstream, do not hesitate in
asserting nonsense like Haj subsidy is for Air India, never miss the
opportunity to impress you with Quranic wisdom, or to offer Quranic
justification while urging Muslims to seek education or to not hate
the jews, we know it isn’t just another problem.
This combined with the values our politicians operate on, will ensure
that we just have to live with it the way it is and just hope it does
not get worse during our or our children’s lifetime.

Gopi Thomas Reply:

March 9th, 2010 at 10:45 pm

@SKS

There is more; especially with the advent of ex SIMI turned into PFI/
SDPI as a political party for the disadvantaged, “not just Muslims”:

1)Brahmins are colluding with USA/UK to make India a Jesustan

2)Reservations etc are farce; Brahmins control everything (i am still
looking for those powerful Brahmins!)

3) Muslims did well in the first 30 years of independence; then a
coordinated conspiracy started to marginalize them, to exterminate
their intellectuals
4)The elite Muslims migrated to Pakistan (we know how that has helped
PAkistan) and the real backward Muslims stayed back in India

5) Gandhiji was in collusion with Brahmins to marginalize Muslims

6)Lodhi and Gazni are not Muslims,a nd Somnath temple destruction
should not be attributed to Muslims

7)Babur loved all and did not destroy any places of worship

8)Auragazeb is maligned by Brahmins; he was a great king who cared for
all equally (and Akbar was not a great king)

9)Shivaji looted neighboring kingdoms, and have done more damage to
india than any Moghul or other foreign invaders have done

10)”Mapilla rebellion” in Kerala that happened with Khilafet was an
agrarian revolution and not one where muslims targeted and raped and
killed Hindus and destroyed their palces of worship

11) tipu Sultan was a benevolent king who did not destroy palces of
worship of Hindus and Christians (although history of Kerala clearly
traces his “patayottam” (rapid fight ) for the massive conversions in
Malabar area, including naming Calicut as Islamabad for a while

12)All the communal troubles are started by Brahmins to further
marginalize Muslims

List goes on

Ashish Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 1:28 am

@SKS @Gopi Thomas
great compilations; SKS, great summary of the core arguments we have
heard on this blog over the last few months.
This blog has run out of ideas.. tired, tiresome and repetitive..
poorly researched and lately even without a central idea.

I can sense the next blog coming.. on why Ranganath Mishra
recommendations must be adopted. Stealing from a well known poster,
first seen in London, “Sachar spotted the cancer, Mishra has the
answer”.

Trying to remember some Muslim Maoist name; honestly can’t. By the
way, SP/RE/UI.. whoever/ whatever, I was in Lalbazar (Calcutta police
HQ) .. staying with a certain doctor employed with the police the day
Charu Mazumdar was brought in. I have heard enough stories of how
Naxals used to be handled by the Calcutta Police; suffice it to say
KPS Gill was really tame in comparison. Honestly speaking, I have
never ever thought about the religion of the Naxals; now that I do,
yes, you are right. All of these guys I heard of were Hindus-excepting
Jangal Santhal – even though I am sure they will be quite amused to be
called such. But, the brutality on both sides (Naxals and the state)
was totally secular. I hope I am not told next that Maoists and the
Government are in cahoots to rid the world of Muslims.
Hindus become Maoists because they just like to kill and are afforded
protection by the state; and Muslims do not- inspite of all the
discrimination, because they follow the religion of peace. Hmmm…..
Talking about KPS Gill; so, his forces killed Muslims and then dressed
them up as Khalistanis, correct? Just checking…
MMM’s (Much Maligned Modi) goons killed Muslims while his police shot
dead 400 Hindus .. inconvenient, but true.
Gopi, great item 4 on your list. Precisely..

SKS Mumbai Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 2:17 pm

@Ashish

‘Honestly speaking, I have never ever thought about the religion of
the Naxals’

Hmm that shows your communal mindset, Bhai sahab.

Ashish Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 3:56 pm

@SKS
my communal mindset is well established on this blog.. garv se kaho…

RE Reply:

March 20th, 2010 at 2:52 pm

Arey bhai then stop living off Muslim money and Muslim oil. Dead
simple as that. You hate us like anything and yet want to live off our
money! hahaha great

RE Reply:

March 20th, 2010 at 2:54 pm

You didn’t answer my post cuz you DON”T have an answer . Stop being a
MORON for a change. You sound like a joker

SKS Mumbai says:
March 10, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Sorry guys, I underestimated the power of contextualisation and
perspectivasation and the time it might take to secularise the
history. It is faster.
See what India’s great son, Mr Kuldip Nair has to say about 26/11 and
Karkare:

Quote: More worrisome are the Hindu extremists rearing their head. The
murder of police officer Hemant Karkare, who was probing the Malegaon
blasts, was the doing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or Bajrang Dal”
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/16-kuldip-nayar-politics-of-terrorism-hs-01

See how simple it is to present TRUTH. If you want first mover
advantage, it is time to write a Book :

November 26th 2008, Mumbai : Revolt of the oppressed against the vile
Hindu Elite.
You can try a Bharat Ratna for yourself and freedom fighter’s pension
for Mr Kasab

Ashish Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 4:01 pm

@SKS
for a few pieces of silver.. Mr Nayar can be made to say anything..
He does not find a publisher on this side of the border anymore; don’t
judge him too harshly.. he needs to earn a living somehow.

Gopi Thomas Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 6:12 pm

@Ashish

I will take Kuldip against Naqvi (who also writes for Dawn) anytime!

SKS Mumbai says:
March 10, 2010 at 4:11 pm
@Ashish

the latest seems to be “garv se kaho hum internet hindu hain”

Rajeev Reply:

March 10th, 2010 at 9:21 pm

Nice one…

Indian says:
March 11, 2010 at 9:59 am
Victim Swami Laxmanananda portrayed as a villain by biased media
Alarming 5 fold increase in Kandhamal Christian population from six
per cent in 1971 to 27 per cent in 2001 ,It began with the arrival of
Christian missionaries in the area who found the remote region very
conducive to conduct prosetylization amongst the poor tribals. The
conversions continued unhindered until the arrival of Swami
Laxmanananda who put strenuous efforts to stop conversions and help
reconversion to Hindouism as well. If not for his effort Kandhamal
would have been another Nagaland in the making where the separatist
movement has wrecked havoc in the state. The aggressive Christian
proselytization in Orissa today pitched previously peaceful tribals
into warring camps of Christians and non-Christian. This has has
vitiated the peace that has existed with various communities for
millenia. Next target is KARNATAKA and they are facing stiff
resistance from Hindus here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SKS Mumbai says:
March 12, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Another TRAIL BLAZING Research!!

Truth behind Sachin’s 200 runs Innings. Must Read

http://altnews.asia/content/2010/03/11/who-controls-fanatic-india-xi-dr-abdul-ruff-colachal-0

Author is one more feather in the crowded cap of our JN University of
Secular Research Sciences.

Ashish Reply:

March 12th, 2010 at 11:42 pm

@SKS,
does the JNU reserve seats for the mentally challenged?

sanjeev Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 7:54 pm

@ ashish

Infact it has become fashionable to criticize govt and hindus in JNU.
There is whole lot a generation mostly elite bengali who tretas it
fashionable to be politically correct and being anti national.

Unfortunately the leftist brigade have penetarted deeply in JNU
faculty where it has become fashionable to criticise anything indian,

Infact JNU has proved to be a factory of producing traitors in the
garb of liberal thinkers

sanjeev Reply:

March 14th, 2010 at 7:58 pm

@ Ashish

Yes there is reservation for such elements like Rauff in centres of
JNU in schools of languages and international relations. These centres
are for Urdu, Arabic, Persian, west asian studiess, etc.

In fact these centres are reserved exclusively of urdu-persian- arabi
speaking intellectuals.

Hence we used to call these departments as UPA

Gopi Thomas Reply:

March 13th, 2010 at 1:52 pm

It also shows people live in different planets. Also, it is like
Newton’s law. The more appeasement and more give aways, the more
demand for more and cries of discrimination. The person’s last name
sounds like a typical Kerala “house” name; and if he is from there, it
is an even “bigger” problem. Because whatever may be the issue in
other parts of India, they were part of the ruling coalition from
almost day 1; they got their district formed, they are one of the
richest groups etc etc.

SKS Mumbai says:
March 13, 2010 at 6:29 pm
@Ashish

Reservations for mentally challenged?
Interesting question , but for which levele admission or for faculty.

http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/they-call-me-muslim/2010/02/28/budgeting-for-minorities/

My Name Is Bal Thackeray

In the middle of the Shiv Sena’s rampage against Shah Rukh Khan’s My
Name Is Khan in Bombay, came the delightful news that someone had
blackened Pramod Muthalik’s face in Bangalore just as he was preparing
to oppose Valentine’s Day celebrations on Sunday.
I think it is rich that he should describe the act as “undemocratic”
and against freedom of expression – as though such freedoms are the
prerogative of just the bigots of this country and the rest of us have
no democratic rights or freedom to do as we please, at all!

But that also brought to mind the fact that perhaps the Shiv Sena in
Bombay has been the biggest loser this Valentine season. They are the
original party poopers of Valentine’s Day celebrations – there was a
time when Bal Thackeray had become synonymous with the term. I recall
a friend in a raging fight with her husband who would not take her out
to dinner one Valentine’s day one year. When this musty and old-
fashioned gent started a spiel on Indian culture and traditions, my
friend walked off in a huff, muttering, “There is no fun in asking Bal
Thackeray out to dinner, anyway!”

Now the sainiks have no time to mount an attack as of yore on card and
gift companies who might want to make a killing as people celebrate
their love for each other. In any case, they have no reason. The Shiv
Sena is now in the hands of Thackeray’s son Uddhav and he has no love
lost for his divorced sister-in-law, Smita.

According to my information from inside Matoshree, the Sena only ever
took up the anti-Valentine’s Day cause purely for reasons of personal
pique. When they started the campaign sometime in the late Nineties,
Smita was very thick with her father-in-law Bal Thackeray. And
Thackeray Sr was pretty miffed one December when a very well-known
card and gift company –which puts up huge Valentines Day hearts and
arches all across urban India — refused to sponsor his daughter-in-
law’s Mukti Foundation event in the battle against AIDS.

I am told that they had burnt their fingers the previous year – they
were not paid their share of the dues even after several reminders and
appeals and so decided to cut their losses by determining never to
sponsor such an event ever again. None of Thackeray’s cajoling,
pleading or threatening would budge this company.

So when Valentine’s Day came around a few weeks later in February,
Thackeray decided to get even. For years after that the Sena
vandalised all card shops and gift outlets on Valentine’s Day – and
then, one year, it abruptly ceased. It must have been a coincidence
surely that by then the reins had been handed over to Uddhav and his
brother divorced that year. I believe Uddhav saw no point in opposing
something that had caught on like fire, particularly for someone he
considered no longer a member of the Thackeray household; indeed for
someone he felt had no claim to the Thackeray name any longer.

It is also significant that Raj Thackeray actually encouraged the
celebration of love soon after he formed his Maharashtra Navnirman
Sena –he put up posters encouraging youths to learn ball room dancing
(though that stopped after the first year when he received flak for
encouraging westernisation among Indian youth).

Today, the whole world has seen how Shah Rukh Khan has stood up to Bal
Thackeray and refused to pay up – yes, at the end of the day, that is
what, I believe, this was all about. The Sena targeted Shah Rukh only
because he had a film coming up and knew that producers and
distributors would rather buy off the trouble than risk vandalisation
and block crores of rupees riding on their films (that’s what Karan
Johar did after all vis-à-vis Wake Up, Sid and Raj Thackeray). I
salute Shah Rukh for keeping producers and distributors, too, from
giving in to such low blackmailing tactics.

However, very few people know that much before Shah Rukh, one card
company in India had silently determined not to give in to cheap arm-
twisting and risked – even suffered – vandalisation and monetary
losses for years before the Sena got off its back and the celebration
of love began to happen in Bombay in right earnest.

Of course, the individual for whom these obstructionist activities
were undertaken was herself organising highly expensive celebratory
dinners for couples at her various restaurants across the city much
before the vandalisation ceased, quite exposing the duplicity of the
Shiv Sena in its campaigns – a point that has now been underscored by
Raj Thackeray. For the first time I agree with Raj – if the Sena can
allow cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan to go forward
unfettered, then they have an ulterior motive in targeting Shah Rukh
Khan.

And that is not because he is Muslim or supported Pakistani cricket
players. It is because he had a film coming up which had nearly a
billion rupees riding on it. And opportunities like these are not
something to let go of — if Your Name Is Bal Thackeray.

(38 votes, average: 4.53 out of 5)

Posted by Sujata Anandan on Friday, February 12, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Filed under India · Tagged Bal Thackeray, Bangalore, blackened Pramod
Muthalik, Bombay, My Name Is Khan, rampage, Shahrukh Khan, Shiv Sena,
Valentine’s Day celebrations

102 Responses to “My Name Is Bal Thackeray”

Kushal says:
February 13, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Great piece, Sujata. But I’m with Manish – not only the Sena(s) but
ALL political parties have ulterior motives behind their causes.


Kushal Reply:

February 13th, 2010 at 3:19 pm

Btw, do you suppose the Sena will demand a cut of MNIK’s takings since
they have practically driven the whole nation to watch it, just to
take a stand?

Sujata Anandan Reply:

February 15th, 2010 at 2:37 pm

Ha, ha, ha! Tht will take some gall!

Anurav Reply:

February 14th, 2010 at 10:55 am

True. ALL political parties have ulterior motives but only a handful
like Sena keeps the city as hostage.

Sujata Anandan Reply:

February 15th, 2010 at 2:35 pm

Agree, Bunny. But like Anurav says all political parties have their
agenda but only ones like the Sena hold the city to ransom

Kushal Reply:

February 16th, 2010 at 6:17 pm

I’m no advocate for the Sena(s), Sujata and Anurav. But I wonder how a
government can allow things to reach such a state that a party CAN
hold a city to ransom.

What about THOSE ulterior motives?

Harry says:
February 13, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Hi sujata, why didn’t u publish my comment.

Sujata Anandan Reply:

February 15th, 2010 at 2:38 pm

Have no control over this , Harry

Anil says:
February 13, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Not much debate when Nilesh Rane a congress MP held Maharashtra to
ransom on the film Zhenda. He even managed to have the film release
postponed. Nice government sponsored promotion for MNIK. 24 hours
prime time coverage. Great going. Keep it up

Mohin says:
February 13, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Bal Thackare is a ordinary Man,is a not God,He is using ordinary
Peoples to him as Powerful
Certainly he fails.If i am CM of Maharastra Surely He will be
furnished.

Anil Kumar says:
February 13, 2010 at 10:13 pm
In the middle of the Shiv Sena’s rampage against Shah Rukh Khan’s My
Name Is Khan in Bombay, came the “delightful” news ..

See this is the problme with socalled educated class of India.. Here
this madam found that news delightful.

As much as I disapprove the nonsense of valentine’s day protest it’s
equally disturbing that people midn you educated one at that find this
vandalism when the recepient is their object of hate find it
delightful..

What is the difference between Muthalik’s army spreading nonsense and
these idiots who blackend his face that too in a panel debate..

Sane people shold be the last oen to endorse these behavious otherwise
you lose the right to complain when army of muthaliksfo the world go
on rampage

Rajeev says:
February 13, 2010 at 10:46 pm
I think it is SRK desperate attempt to equal 3 idiots collections by
any means…what a chichora khan!!!

Rajeev says:
February 14, 2010 at 12:20 am
This controversy started by SRK is just to promote MNIK so that his
movie can beat collections for 3 Idiot.

What a Chichora loser SRK is!!!

What fools we Indians are!!! This mediocre actor has taken this nation
for a ride with Congress in arms and media in his shoes.

By the way our Maharashtra police was so busy gaurding SRK’s movie
that they forgot to gaurd common people of pune (who have stood up to
Thackrey but forgot to stand up to terrorist sympathisers).

Rajeev says:
February 14, 2010 at 12:56 am
Let us see who gained and lost out of this controversy-

1. Congress – Gained political mileage in UP and Bihar by showing sham
sympathy towards north Indians in Mumbai. Gained political mileage
among muslim voters by supporting Shahrukh Khan and his pro-pakistani
stance (Pakistan is a great neighbor to have).

2. Rahul Gandhi – Has become a hero for UP and Bihar voters. By
supporting SRK, he has become hero of communal muslim voters and now
is going to Azamgarh to consolidate those gains.

3. Shiv Sena- After becoming irrelevant after MNS (Raj Thackrey)
hijacked its plank ably supported by congress led chavan govt., they
got an opportunity to get noticed. They miscalcuated big time because
they should know that India has moved on. We have now become immuned
to terrorism and are now more interested in making money. For us
escapist routes like movies are more important than lives of 200
Indians. As long as VIPs are not hurt, we don’t care and so does our
Media.

4. Media- Media got great TRP out of this controversy..loads of ads
and big money. The media under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi has also
started propaganda that rahul is next KING of India (Times of India).
This is the first time in the history of private television that
doordarshan stands ashamed in front of media’s pro-congress bias.

5. Aam Admi urf Ullu ka Pattha – Aam admi lost money on mediocre film
like MNIK, lost valuable time following useless pro-SRK and pro-Rahul
Baba story.

Nikhil says:
February 14, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Sujata,

UNHOLY NEXUS BETN BOLLYWOOD AND NEWS MEDIA IN INDIA:

Please read the article in Indian express today. They say it’s unique
in India where movie producers and stars own or have stake in the
content providers or business groups that own TV channels. This
furthers the deep suspicion in the MNIK controversy. SRK and Karan
Johar, most likely, are laughing their way to the bank. Shiv Sena
perhaps may’ve got a small share of it too. Who knows?

arvind says:
February 17, 2010 at 10:56 am
Thakray family jo khud mumbai ka nahi hai aur apne aap ko asli
mumbaikar batata hai , mumbai uski hai jo mumbai se sachha pyar karta
hai ,uske bare me sochta hai , ye logo ke bhawnao ko bhadkakar apne
roti ka intjam karte hai aur pure mumbai ke logo ke paise ko lutte
hai, pahle party banakar party fund ke paise se apna ghar chalate hai.
Agar thakray me himmat hai to north india jane wali kisi bhi train ke
genral compartment me baith kar dikhai, aur wo train non stopage ho to
shayad destintion tak pahunchte pahunchte wo history ke ek joker ban
kar rah jayenge . thakrey hosh me aao , nafrat ki aandhi mat failao ,
nahi to usi me mit jaoge .

Rajeev Reply:

February 17th, 2010 at 10:07 pm

It looks like a typical nautanki congressi speech.

shiuli says:
February 17, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Ms.Sujata, great insight. Enjoyed the subtle wit in your writing also
the way you put across your point, by not badgering it down the neck.

Ashish Kolarkar says:
February 17, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Thanks Sujata for revealing interesting secret motive of Thackeray’s
in public domain. I’m sure you have lot of such secrets to offer in
near future. Enjoyed your blog.

arvind says:
February 18, 2010 at 10:20 am
It’s real voice of truth indian , agar dam hai to thkray family ko
train me bitha kar dekh lo saath me tum bhi aa jana

AKshay_Marathi says:
February 21, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Hi..,
THIS IS REALLY DISAPPOINTING TO READ THAT , U ARE PORPOSEFULLY USIN
WORD BOMBAY.
U HATE THAKRE O.K. BUT WHY R U INSULTING WHOLE MARATHI BY REPEATNG
BOMBAY.
MAY BE ONE TO GET OUR LOST PRIDE AND TO SAVE FROM HUMILIATION FROM
INDIAN WE HAVE TO SUPPORT THAKRE.
PLZ. DO’T CALL IT BAMBAY IT IS MUMBAI.

Rajeev Reply:

February 23rd, 2010 at 10:47 pm

These jouranlist are extremist fascist who impose their ideologies on
others.

Arpit says:
February 24, 2010 at 1:36 am
Its was only the the publicity stunt by Bal Thackeray. He only wants a
topic every time to be in limelite, as he did when he was delivering
comments on north Indians in Mumbai……..nothing else…I think this type
of political party should be banned in India…I think they people wanna
run country as what they want………………

Earthling says:
March 11, 2010 at 7:28 pm
thakeray is a very bad boy…never will he do good in the face of
indians….corrupting mind sets of people and talking as if he is doing
all good for india…

http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/singly-political/2010/02/12/my-name-is-bal-thackeray/#more-135

Happy Birthday, Netaji

As Bal Thackeray turns 83 on Saturday (January 23), I cannot help
recalling the politics of birthdays that I have witnessed over the
years.

The first political birthday party that I ever attended was that of S
B Chavan (father of Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Ashok Chavan),
sometime in the late Eighties.Sharad pawar had just merged his
Congress(S) with the Congress(I) and become Chief Minister the
previous year. And though Chavan Sr was inducted into the union
cabinet as Home Minister, I think he was mighty miffed at having been
summarily displaced to accommodate the Maratha warlord.

The move opened up a chasm between the so-called `loyalists’ in the
Congress and those who were Pawar’s acolytes. The bickering and
nitpicking went on for months, until Chavan’s birthday arrived on July
14 the next year. Without making any overt moves that might seem as a
campaign against the party high command (it was still Rajiv Gandhi
then), Congress loyalists thought they would use Chavan Sr’s birthday
to put Pawar in his place.

The party was held at a star hotel in South Bombay and a huge
chocolate cake was rolled in to stand under the chandelier in the main
ballroom of that hotel. The hosts had invited all and sundry,
including journalists, except for one very important person – Chief
Minister Sharad Pawar. They were full of glee as Chavan was
fashionably late at his own birthday party and crowed at how awful
Pawar might feel when he read about it in the papers the next day.

The birthday boy arrived an hour after he was scheduled to cut the
cake and we all gathered round him as he held the ribboned knife in
his hand and prepared to set the ball rolling. Even as those around
him clapped and sang the birthday tune, I turned round to see why
there was an unusual hush around the edges of that room.

Sharad Pawar was standing at the door and, even as Chavan cut a slice,
Pawar moved slowly towards the centre of the room. And before Chavan
could lift the slice and feed it to the person nearest him (I forget
who), Pawar was standing with an extended hand to greet Chavan a happy
birthday. A chagrined Chavan had to feed the cake to Pawar, instead;
they hugged and exchanged pleasantries even as many of the Congress
workers stood around in consternation..

Chavan graciously invited him to join the party but Pawar demurely
declined. He had another important meeting to attend, he said by way
of explanation, but had just dropped in as he was passing by the hotel
en route to this other function. He left in minutes but it took
several more for the others to regain their composure and continue
with the now subdued celebrations.

Next day, as I and another colleague nosed round Pawar’s office, we
were told in confidence by a close confidante that Pawar had heard
about the plan to cut him out of the party and was damned if he would
be defeated by a bunch of `upstarts’ or provide a lot of grist to the
mill of journalists who would have a blast the next morning. So he
decided to play party pooper-of-sorts (because that is what he had
turned out to be the previous night).

We were told that Pawar had arrived at the time given out for the cake-
cutting ceremony but sent a sniffer upstairs to find out how things
stood. He decided he would not be kept waiting for Chavan inside the
hotel and asked his cavalcade to circle round the locality of the
hotel several times until Chavan himself had rolled in (he had posted
some cops as lookouts). Pawar then timed his entry perfectly to
nonplus Chavan and his supporters with, “I heard you were having a
party for your birthday. So I decided to drop in myself and greet you
in person.’’

And then he went home. Satisfied that he had nipped any mischief in
the bud. Chavan never had another birthday party like that one again,
though his constituents would celebrate the day in his hometown off
and on over the years.

And as far as I remember, Pawar has only ever had one birthday party –
when he turned 60 nearly a decade ago. There was a five-star event
with the who’s who of India represented the previous evening. But it
was his public rally the next day that saddened me the most. For, even
then it was no secret that he was dying to be Prime Minister. Atal
Behari Vajpayee was in office at the time and Pawar was at pains to
explain to his supporters that it was still not too late for him. “In
this country no one becomes Prime Minister before they are 70,’’ he
said, though that was not strictly true – Indira and Rajiv Gandhi each
had been much younger. “Look at P V Narasimha Rao, he was half way
through his seventies before he became PM; even Vajpayee now is past
75. I am yet only 60. There is still plenty of time.’’

I wondered if his support base was shrinking and he needed to say that
to stop them from abandoning him altogether. Ten years later he is
still not PM and I wonder how much more time he would now need to get
to that high office.

But it is not just Congressmen who are fond of birthdays. Manohar
Joshi had had himself presented with a 60-diamond necklace on – what
else? – his 60th birthday in a very public ceremony in Bombay wherein
he laid claim to a flawless career stating proudly that no one could
find a breath of scandal against him. Bal Thackeray, then about to
turn 75, was at the time besieged with allegations that his nephew Raj
Thackeray had murdered middle-class professional Ramesh Kini and he
did not take that comment kindly. Joshi was out of office within weeks
and Thackeray barred anyone from going to town on his own birthday.
Joshi has never had another party again.

Nearly a decade later, Thackeray is still off a public celebration of
his birthday. Shiv Sainiks, though, have organised blood donation
camps, free distribution of grains et al to mark the event but the
Sena patriarch has decided to remain out of public view.

I think he is the wisest of them all. I am told he is superstitious –
kahin nazar naa lag jaye!

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

Posted by Sujata Anandan on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Filed under India · Tagged Bal Thackeray, Maratha warlord, political
birthday party, Rajiv Gandhi, S B Chavan, Sharad Pawar

6 Responses to “Happy Birthday, Netaji!”

Dev says:
January 22, 2010 at 11:03 pm
And we’ll never know what became of Netaji.

Anil says:
January 23, 2010 at 11:36 am
Wish Pawar had used the same cunningness to improve agriculture sector
and bring down prices. He is just incapable of thinking big for the
country. The only person who really knew how to celebrate birthday in
a manner beffiting his personality was Chach Nehru. He really spent
quality time with children. Others have just aped him.

Ashish Kolarkar says:
January 23, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Due to such shrewdness and intelligence Pawar is in the limelight for
such a long time. He is too ambitious and believes in playing long
innings. Who knows one day this Maratha Sardar would hoist flag from
Lal Kila?

But it seems that Pawar is losing his popularity for his foot in mouth
comments recently. He seems to have all the problems but no soultions
to Offer to common man. He is bent on taking his role too casually.

Good that Thackeray Sr has finally realised that birthday bashes are
meant for sycophancy only and don’t serve any good purpose.

vipin malik says:
January 24, 2010 at 12:03 am
you remeber for netaji all indian popel it was great man

vipin malik says:
January 24, 2010 at 12:10 am
i am a fan of Netaji

Anil Kumar says:
January 24, 2010 at 3:51 am
These leaders who set goal in terms of this or that chair make me
cringe..

All these leader needs a plenary session with Narendra Modi..
Everytime anyone asks him about chairs his reply is I never lust for
chair I lost for work to be done target to be achieved with or without
chair.. Chair is not the destination and that’s how it should be..

http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/singly-political/2010/01/22/happy-birthday-netaji/#more-131

Jhenda ooncha rahe…
14 Comments

Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar and Sarkar Raj are broadly thought to be
based on the life of Bal Thackeray. In large portions, the theme might
be taken from episodes from the Sena tiger’s life but the intelligence
and dexterity of managing politics that has characterised Amitabh
Bachchan’s portrayal of Sarkar in the two films have never been Bal
Thackeray’s forte.
Thackeray is an instinctive politician whose reactions have always
been spontaneous rather than well-thought out. Moreover, he has
thrived not on his programmes or issues of his making but on the
mistakes of other parties (in large measure, the Congress). For
example, the one and only time that the Shiv Sena came to power in
Maharashtra in alliance with the BJP was in 1995, soon after the 1992
riots and the 1993 bomb blasts when people thought and believed that
the Congress was playing far too many games and still remembered the
protectionist campaign of Shiv Sainiks through those burning weeks.

If the Sena was unable to return in 1999, 2004 and 2009 again, it is
because in these years, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress
Party, in alliance in Maharashtra, have largely done little wrong and
Thackeray has found no gap in the fabric to tear it apart.

But the Shiv Sena’s massive defeat at both the Lok Sabha and the
Assembly elections can be largely attributed to art — or at least
politics posing as art. Just before the Lok Sabha polls, Raj Thackeray
had helped to produce a film titled Mee Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje
Bhosale Boltoy (I, Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhosale, speak), with
Mahesh Manjrekar playing the title role, that was an indictment of the
complacence and laid-back attitudes of Maharastrians. It portrayed,
through film, the political point that Raj had been hammering at for
months: that the Maharashtrian is content with just a table, khurchi
ani pankha (a table, a chair and a fan). That he did not strive for
much more and allowed others to walk all over him. The film exhorted
Maharashtrians to become more combative in their own interest and,
like Oliver, never stop asking for more

It released in Maharashtra’s cinemas just before the producers-
multiplex imbroglio and so ran for weeks and weeks and had a great
hand in influencing a large number of Maharashtrian youth who went
right out and voted for Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Now the Shiv Sena has come out with its counter to that film – benami
again, like Raj’s production of Chhatrapati, but with no kid gloves on
this time. It appears to be a real-life account of the war between the
two cousins – indeed, from the stills released so far, it is very
difficult to spot the differences between the actors who play Raj and
Uddhav and the original cousins.

Titled Jhenda (Flag), it seems to be a mixture of truth and
exaggeration and some of the alleged falsehoods have already compelled
the producer to make some cuts and changes and promise to re-release
the film without the offending portions.

But while everyone — from Narayan Rane’s son to sundry Sena leaders —
are objecting to their unfair portrayals, the one man it lampoons the
most – Raj Thackeray – is uncharacteristically silent.

I haven’t seen Jhenda yet but I am told that there is a scene where
Raj’s character dons a skullcap and attends an Iftaar party. I don’t
know how true that portrayal is, for in all my years I at least have
not seen Raj Thackeray in a skull cap at an Iftaar party. When Raj
launched his MNS he did mean to be all inclusive and there are many
Muslims in his party who are devoted to Bal Thackeray’s nephew. Yet
they have all taken a so-called `mature’ decision not to agitate or
protest.

It could be because Raj well realises that any protest will only help
the film at the box office and more people will end up seeing his
portrayal in an unflattering light than they would if he just gives it
the royal ignore. But, a little bird tells me, Raj has also been cut
down to size and is no longer sure what his protests will lead to.

At the constitution of the current Assembly in Maharashtra, he
protested against Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi taking his oath in
Hindi. That has led to another non-bailable warrant from a court in
Madhya Pradesh (in addition to cases pending against him in courts in
Bihar and Jharkhand, just transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court))
and suddenly he has no Godfathers.

It is largely believed that the previous Congress government egged him
on against the Shiv Sena but the Assembly elections proved that Raj
was eating into even the Congress and the NCP voter base. So they have
no reason to nurture a Frankenstein’s Monster. But it may also be
true, as I have heard, that the Congress is also squeezing his
business interests to gag him into submission. Moreover, he needs to
keep is silence, again, to buy freedom for those of his MLAs who were
suspended for four years from the Maharashtra Assembly for beating up
Azmi for taking his oath in Hindi.

When I asked a top functionary in the government why those MLAs were
not expelled outright, he said, “If we had done that, it would have
led to by-elections and Raj Thackeray might have come back with a bang
and got more arrogant. This is our version of suspended animation; he
cannot now afford to create more trouble out of fear that there might
be more action that will actually pinch.’’

Without the alleged protection offered by the previous government, I
think Raj is now truly feeling that pinch. And the Sena is not far
behind in hoisting him with his own petard and, in addition, hoisting
its own flag — both the party standard and the celluloid variety.

But, still, I believe Chhatrapati …. was a far more intelligent film –
for one, it needed no cuts, for another it touched a chord with
Maharashtra’s youth — than Jhenda could ever be.

(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)

Posted by Sujata Anandan on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 6:33 pm

Filed under India · Tagged Amitabh Bachchan, Bal Thackeray, bjp,
Congress, Lok Sabha polls, Mahesh Manjrekar, Raj Thackeray, Raj
Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar,
sarkar raj, Shiv Sainiks

14 Responses to “Jhenda ooncha rahe…”
Ashish Kolarkar says:
January 8, 2010 at 8:08 pm

Thanks Sujata for telling us about “Chhatrapati….” and its impact in
recent elections. I think so much has come in print/visual media about
Thackeray family that people have started losing interest in it. With
the desertion of Smita Thackeray the things have become too
intriguing. How come daughter-in-law basking under the glory of father-
in-law could leave the later at this stage for greater political
aspiration?

I’ve read a research paper which said that there is great similarity
in genes of nephew and Uncle. I think the Raj and Bal Thackeray prove
the theory. Raj has got cartooning and same eccentric nature from his
uncle. He is too unpredictable. He is on the threshold of finding his
identity after initial euphoria. It is time for him to invent more
tricks to be in the market with due help from ruling party.

Sujata Anandan Reply:

January 11th, 2010 at 6:15 pm

Yes, there is great similarity — and even in terms of events history
is repeating itself vis-a-vis Rraj Thackeray. Will write about those
by and by

Anil Kumar says:
January 8, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Congress will keep him alive.> he need not woory.> Congress always
creates fransktein .

Punjab was gifted Bhindarwale in order to check Akali Dal. Congressi
have no scruples when it coems to snatchign power they care two hoot
about even national interest.

Maharashtra was first gifted Baal thackrey to check labour uninsit and
communist’s rise. now we haevRaj Thackrey to check Baal thackreey

Assam have ben figted crores of illegal bangaldeshi

List goes on and on.

Country can go to dogs as long as these gimmciks insure perpetuation
fo power of congress they are fair game for anythign and everything

Pankaj Reply:

January 9th, 2010 at 11:08 am

country is with dogs and *******!

Sujata Anandan Reply:

January 11th, 2010 at 6:16 pm

You are right on all counts

bobby says:
January 9, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Raj may be silent also because there are no elections round the
corner.

Sujata Anandan Reply:

January 11th, 2010 at 6:17 pm

Well, the municipal elections are due next year which are crucila to
him in terms of his business interests across Bombay

Anil says:
January 9, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Narayan Rane and his son are doing more goonda giri than the entire
Thackrey clan put together. There is absolutely no unfair portrayal of
the the former. They should not crib. Any portrayal of their character
will be a milder version of their true self. Ranes have been the most
unscrupulous turncoats in Maharashtra politics. No fan of Shiv Sena
but Congress have won in Maratha land becuase of the infighting in
Sena. Haven’t seen ‘Zhenda’ but ‘ Mee Chhatrapati Boltoye’ by Mahesh
Manjrekar is a classic Marathi film

Sujata Anandan Reply:
January 11th, 2010 at 6:19 pm

However, the producer of jhenda has given in and agreed to delete the
offending scenes — that’s muscle power for you!

Sujata Anandan says:
January 11, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Well, the municipal elections are due next year which are crucial to
him in terms of his business interests…

Joe Zachs says:
January 18, 2010 at 1:43 pm
After watching Sarkar, I admire Ram Gopal Verma for how he hoodwinked
the vested interest into believing that it is a film about “His life”
A real master move Varma.

Dev says:
January 22, 2010 at 11:08 pm
I am reminded of a dialogue in a popular Hindi movie – Jhanda jish
desh ke bhi ho, danda Indian hona chahiye.
Mob rules OK.

Praveen Saxena says:
January 28, 2010 at 12:05 pm
The fact of the matter is that Raj Thakeray is a creation of the
Congress Party and a beneficiary of the mad rush 24×7 news channels.
The Congress has played these tricks in all states Maharashtra,
Punjab, Assam etc. The Kashmir mess is a result of the negligence
shown by the Congress govt at a crucial time.
The country ends paying the price for the dirty politics of the
Congress Party

Ashwatthama says:
February 6, 2010 at 11:20 am
Well Jhenda is way far superior film than Mi Shivaji…

I found MSRBB very stereotype and melodramatic and on the other side
Jhenda is extremely realistic and brilliant.

http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/singly-political/2010/01/08/jhenda-ooncha-rahe%e2%80%a6/#more-126

‘Wrong of Pawar to seek Sena nod’
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, March 20, 2010

First Published: 00:51 IST(20/3/2010)
Last Updated: 00:53 IST(20/3/2010)

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has said it was wrong of people to go to
parties like the Shiv Sena to seek permission to screen a film or hold
cricket matches.

Chavan was referring to Union Agriculture Minister and NCP chief
Sharad Pawar’s meeting with Sena chief Bal Thackeray before the IPL
started to get an assurance from the Sena that the matches in Mumbai
pass peacefully.

This was soon after the Sena, protesting the attacks on Indians in
Australia, said it would not allow Australian cricketers to play in
the IPL.

“Yes, it is wrong,” Chavan said in an interview to Vir Sanghvi for
CNBC-TV18’s programme Off the Record with Vir Sanghvi.

Sanghvi had asked Chavan if he approved of people going to the likes
of Thackeray for permission for holding matches or screening movies.

“Sharad Pawarji is a senior leader. He is in the Union

government and they say he went to discuss the IPL matches and issues
like that….Yes, there were a lot of eyebrows raised and asking why did
he go?” Chavan said.

Chavan, in reply to another query, also said the Sena was losing
ground and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will probably be the main
opposition.

Chavan also talked about the trouble he was having with alliance
partner NCP in handling the Mumbai police. “There have been political
problems,” he said. “I don’t deny that…”

The CM also admitted that there was “politicisation” of the police
force. “We have to select people with integrity…,” he said.

“Looking at the situation during 26/11, we have been cautious. We have
to put a stop to all this and see that proper people handle jobs of
equal importance and men of integrity and people with strength and
courage and the determination to fight, take charge.”

On factionalism in the Mumbai police, Chavan said there have been
differences but they have been sorted out.

Tune in to Off the Record with Vir Sanghvi on CNBC-TV18 at 8 pm on
Saturday and 9 pm on Sunday.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/mumbai/Wrong-of-Pawar-to-seek-Sena-nod/Article1-521102.aspx

Goondas, mind your own business
By Khushwant Singh

Did Shah Rukh Khan and the Maharashtra government score a decisive
victory over the Shiv Sena by showing ‘My Name Is Khan’ in Mumbai’s
cinemas?

Did liberal elements in Karnataka score over Rama Sene by blackening
the face of Pramod Muthalik? Many of us think so and hope both senas
have been dumped on the garbage heap. Unfortunately that is not so.

Shiv Sena’s balloon has no doubt been somewhat deflated but not burst.
It was the same when Rahul Gandhi travelled by suburban train, walking
down streets of Mumbai — a one time performance. And Muthalik has
wiped that soot off his face and is leading his storm troopers to
impose his will on people who do not agree with him.

My reasoning is simple: you cannot put down subversive elements
without having a strong government, which can effectively deal with
bullies. Their strength is their ability to damage property and rough
up people: No one wants to lose his property and get beaten up. The
most vulnerable are mill owners, cinema hall proprietors, eateries and
film people.

They will be eager to patch up with the Thackerays and the Muthaliks.
Take it from me that soon SRK will come to an understanding with the
Thackerays. It has been done before. Sunil Dutt and his daughter Priya
Dutt of the Congress sought Bal Thackeray’s blessings before the
elections. So did Pritish Nandi to become Sena’s nominee to the Rajya
Sabha.

Bal Thackeray is happy to receive important people at his residence,
Matoshree. They kowtow to him and touch his feet while he sits on his
throne draped in saffron robes and rudraksh malas, looking like a
patriarch of all he surveys. He aches to be loved to and is as liberal
in his blessings as he is in offering visitors chilled beer.

I have never met his recalcitrant nephew Raj Thackeray but his modus
operandi is much the same as his uncle’s. So I fear the present
euphoria generated by the release of ‘My Name Is Khan’ is going to be
short-lived. We have yet to build up a mass support of those who can
confront these senas’s goondas and teach them how to mind their own
business.

Bharatrihari

Almora-born Ramesh Chandra Shah was a professor of English in Hamidia
College, Bhopal, till 1997. However, he won acclaim as a Hindi poet
and novelist and was honoured with several awards. He stumbled on
Bharatrihari’s poems in Sanskrit and decided to learn the language; to
be able to translate them into English. I published some selections in
‘Yojana’ and ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’. It is a privilege to
publish some more a third time. The translations are in rubai form and
read as well as Fitzgarald’s translations of Omar Khayyam.

‘Thus Spoke Bharatrihari’ is divided into three sections: Niti
(polity), Sringar (erotica) and Vairagya (asceticism). First I give
examples of Sringar:
You are so lucky if you can admire The lineaments of satisfied desire
In your young bride; suck at her honey’s mouth And let her languor in
your arms retire And:

The bookful blockheads preaching self-restraint Do not consider what’s
really at stake Love’s play on passionate breasts and thighs once
known Such amorous raptures who can ever forsake.

In the third verse he rues the futility of life spent in making love:

The joy companionship of women brings Ends in despair and
disillusionment
Self-knowledge is the only certain good Leading to calm of mind, all
passions spent.
Finally the search for salvation:

Blest are the saints who from all passions free Possess their souls
and live in ecstasy With boundless space as garment and a bowl Of rice
as food and woods as company.

And:

Drunk with delusion’s ever tempting wine We mortals fail to see the
spark Divine
Caught in the vicious whirls of nights and days Our soul ne’er stops
to think of its decline Dress Code

Henry Ford II, son of Henry Ford I, who felt that his father was
generally improperly dressed and did not adhere to the correct dress
code, had the following conversation with him:

Henry Ford II: Dad, you are the biggest manufacturer of cars and a
very renowned person in America. Then why do you dress so shabbily?

Henry Ford I: Yes. I dress the way I like, as everyone in America
knows me as Henry Ford.

Henry Ford II: But, when you go abroad, there also you dress in the
same way, even in poshest of places.

Henry Ford I: Yes, of course, abroad also I dress the same way,
because there no one knows me as Henry Ford.

(Contributed by Colonel Trilok Mehrotra, Noida)

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/58941/goondas-mind-your-own-business.html

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

Judicial & crime statistics, facts and figures

Following are various stats, facts and figures on crime in India and
judicial data , picked out of newspapers (mainly Hindustan Times),
magazines (mainly India Today), the BBC and various sources on the
web. These figures are not meant to be comprehensive lists, but rather
statistical trivia or factual snippets. For basic general facts and
figures about India as well as several Indian states, please see the
Quick Reference popups on the right hand side of this page, or go to
the main page of India statistics, facts and figures . For a full list
of links to our statistics pages, see the About India index or the
bottom of the right navigation bar on this page.

Lines marked with an asterisk (*) are recently added entries.

stats on court cases, murder and jails in India

- pending court cases country wide: more than 20 million (end of
2002)
- persons in jail waiting for trial: over 1 million (end of 2002)
- conviction rate of court cases: around 1 percent (according to Prem
Shankar Jha)
- number of murders in India between 1998 and 2000: 37,170
- murders committed in Uttar Pradesh: 7,200 to 7,500 per year [HT Jun
04]
- occupancy of Muzzafarnagar district jail in UP: 1,155 prisoners
(oct 03)
- capacity of Muzzafarnagar district jail in UP: 530 prisoners (oct
03)
- number of prisoners jailed in 60 prisons in Uttar Pradesh: 50,939
(oct 03)

various crime statistics and data

- people who died instantly in Bhopal on 2-3 Dec 1984 from the Union
Carbide gas
leak: 1,700 [HT May 04]
- people who have died since Dec 1984 from after effects from the
Union Carbide
gas leak in Bhopal: 22,000 [HT May 04]
- people who continue to suffer from varied diseases affecting
respiratory,
reproductive systems as a result of the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak
in Bhopal:
570,000 [HT May 04]
- * number of persons reported missing in Nithari (impoverished area
in Noida, Delhi): 41 within 2 years [REU Jan 07]
- * number of cases of kidnapping, murder and rape registered by the
CBI in
Noida relating to suspected serial killers Moninder Singh Pandher
and
Surendra Koli: 19 (CBI: (Central Bureau of Investigation) [REU Jan
07]
- * number of polythene bags containing body parts found in drains
near the
suspect: 40 [REU Jan 07]
- number of policemen in Delhi: 59,077 [HT Jun 04]
- number of finials missing at the Red Fort Delhi Gate: 10 (originals
could fetch each
about 33,600 Euro on black market)
- drop in crime in Delhi Nov 2003 (compared to Nov 2002): murder: -36
% --
robbery: -23 % -- extortion: -73 % -- rioting: -70 %
- number of crimes in the Chambal ravines (UP) within past 5 years:
approx 4,000
kidnappings & 180 murders (The UP government has proposed to combat
crimes and
bandits in the Chambal ravines by setting up a 371 acre lion safari
park with 5 lions to
attract tourists) [BBC, Aug 2005]

crime in Government / corruption

- candidates facing criminal charges in the Oct 2004 Maharashtra
election: 91 out
of 163 Shiv Sena party candidates -- 45 out of 111 BJP candidates
-- 31 out of 124
Nationalist Congress party candidates -- 30 out of 157 Congress
candidates [BBC Oct 04]
- number of UP candidates with a criminal record who made it to the
14th Lok
Sabha: at least 12 [HT May 04]
- number of Uttar Pradesh's MLAs who have been through processes of
the law
reserved for criminals: 205 (of a total of 403 MLAs - Member of the
Legislative
Assembly) [HT beginning 2004]
- amount of money taken by MPs in recent "cash for questions"
scandal:
232 - 10,000 US Dollars in bribes for asking questions in
parliament [BBC, Dec 2005]
- number of MPs suspended by India's main political parties for
taking bribes,
end 2005: 9 (Congress: 1 -- BJP: 5 -- BSP: 3) [BBC, Dec 2005]

some facts on laws, sentences & Court rules

- legal sentence for homosexuality: 10 years prison [BBC, Jan 2006]
- age of the colonial Indian Penal Code dealing with homosexuality:
145 years
[BBC, Jan 2006]
- year in which a petition for legalising homosexuality was dismissed
by the High
Court in Delhi: 2004 [BBC, Jan 2006]
- year in which the High Court in Delhi overturned the 1914
legislation and ruled
that women should be allowed to serve alcohol in public: 2005 [BBC,
Jan 2006]

"missing person" tourist stats

- number of registered "person gone missing" in the Kulu Valley (HP)
since 1992: 15
- estimated foreigners disappearance in the Kulu Valley (HP) for the
past decade: 50
(estimate by UK based pressure group Fair Trials Abroad)
- "mysterious" tourist deaths in Goa (jan 2003 - apr 2004): 59

data on crime against women

- official punishment for sex selection (i.e. abortion if child is
female): 3 years jail +
50,000 Rupees fine (equiv to 960 Euro)
- loss of female births within past 2 decades caused by abortion and
sex selection:
estimate of more than 10 million [BBC, Jan 2006]
- annual 'girl deficit' due to prenatal sex selection and selective
abortion: 500,000
according to researchers for the Lancet Journal [BBC, Jan 2006]
- rape cases pending in courts across the country: 56,000 [Oct 2003]
- * registered cases of rape in Delhi 2004: 550 [BBC, Aug 2005]
- rape cases in Delhi 2002: convicted: 98 -- acquitted: 344
- age of rape victims in Delhi: 75% are minors, and of those 25 % are
below 12 years
- registered cases of eve-teasing for Mar - Aug 2003 in Indian
metropoles: Delhi: 744
-- Mumbai:27 -- Kolkata:30 -- Chennai:143
- cases of rape for Mar - Aug 2003 in Indian metropoles: Delhi: 262
-- Mumbai: 40
-- Kolkata: 18 -- Chennai: 21
- officially recorded dowry deaths in major cities combined (Delhi,
Mumbai, Calcutta,
Chennai): 2002: 181 -- 2001: 121
- cases of crimes against women registered with the police in
Himachal Pradesh
2002: 920 (including 137 for rape, 138 for kidnap, 6 for dowry)
- Haryana cost of buffalo: 18,000 - 24,000 Rs (approx 345 - 460 Euro)
- Haryana cost of girl (human trafficking): 4000 Rs (approx 77 Euro)

some crime statistics of Himachal Pradesh
- number of cases of crime in HP from Apr 2003 to May 2004: 1,617
registered cases
- top on the Human Rights violators' list in Himachal Pradesh: Police
(HP Human
Rights Commission received 148 complaints involving police, that is
43 percent of the
complaints)
- cases registered under the NDPS Act in HP: 2002: 312 -- 2003:310
(NDPS: Narcotics, Drugs & Psychotropic Substances) [HT Mar 04]
- amount of drugs recovered by police in HP: 2002: 720 kg charas, 35
kg opium
-- 2003: 420 kg charas, 35 kg opium, 1.5 kg brown sugar
- number of police personnel involved in the annual "Destroy
Cannabis" operation
in the village of Malana in HP Sep 2004: team of 200 people from
Narcotics Control
Bureau, Kullu police and Home Guards [HT Sep 04]

stats on "Destroy Cannabis" operation in Malana Sep 2003 in HP
- cannabis growing area destroyed in Malana and surrounding: 1,100
bigha
(1 hectare = 12 bigha)
- duration of operation "Destroy Cannabis": 8 days (15 - 23
september)
- number of police or soldiers or helpers: 250 or more
- longest cannabis plant found: 15 feet 7 inches
- possible production from destroyed area: 300 kg charas
- area of destruction of cannabis fields in previous years: 1998: 939
bighas
-- 1999: 224 bighas -- 2000: 1,200 bighas -- 2002: 676 bighas (1
hectare = 12 bigha)

data sources & key:

AT: Asia Times, BBC: BBC online, BRIT: Britannica 2002, BSNL: BSNL
Telecom Trends, BSt: Business Standard, CIA: CIA Factbook India, CIN:
censusindia.net, CNEI: Chandigarh Newsline, c/net: c/net news, ConSu:
Content Sutra DI: Daily India, DNA: DNA India, EB: EquityBull, EI:
ExpressIndia, EW: EconomyWatch, FE: Financial Express, FL: Frontline,
GG: Gujarat Global, GTF: Global Technology Forum, GBoWR: Guinness Book
of World Records, HT: Hindustan Times, ID: IndiaDaily, IInfoLine:
India InfoLine IND: The Independent, ITo: India Today, NPBS: Nature
PBS, PhO: PhysOrg, RED: Rediff, REU: Reuters, Sify: Sify Broadband,
TH: The Hindu, TNJ: The News (Jang), ToI: Times of India, TT: The
Tribune,

http://www.neoncarrot.co.uk/h_aboutindia/india_crime_stats.html

Specimen Data Tables : Crime and Law

Cognizable Crimes Registered in India
(1995 to 2001)

Year Num.of Offences Ratio (IPC : SLL) Rate/100000 Inhab. Total

1995 1695696 4297476 1:2.53 5993172 -

1996 1709576 4586986 1:2.68 6296562 675.6

1997 1719820 4691439 1:2.73 6411259 671.2

1998 1778815 4403288 1:2.47 6182103 636.7

1999 1764629 3198902 1:1.78 4911730 497.8

2000 1771084 3396666 1:1.92 5167750 515.7

2001 1769308 3575230 1:02:02 5344538 520.4

Abbr.: IPC : Indian Penal Code.
SLL : Special and Local Laws.

Crime against Women

Figures at All-India / State level : (Currently showing India with
State Level consolidated figures) Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
Arunachal Pradesh | Assam | Chhattisgarh | Delhi | Goa | Himachal
Pradesh | Jharkhand | Kerala | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra | Manipur
| Orissa | Punjab | Rajasthan | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttar Pradesh |
Uttaranchal | West Bengal |

(Data table headings are shown Year-wise in descending order)

Number of Cases Registered at National Commission for Women (NCW)
Related to Alleged Attacks on Women/Girl by Nature of Complaints in
India (01.11.2008 to 31.10.2009)

State/Age-Group-wise Victims of Total Rape Cases in India (2007)

Crime Head-wise Incidents of Crime Against Women in India (2001 to
2006)

Incidents of Custodial Rape in Police Custody in India (1995 to
2006)

Proportion of Crime Against Woman (Indian Penal Code) toward total
Indian Penal Code Crimes in India (1996 to 2006)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (Women and Children) under
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 in India (2004 to 2006)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered for Atrocities against Women
and their Status in India (2006)

State-wise Number of Missing and Traced Men, Women and Children in
India (2006)

Number of Cases Detected and Persons Arrested in Flesh Trade in
India (2003 to 2005)

Selected City-wise Number of Crime Committed Against Women in India
(2005)

State/Selected City/Age-Group-wise Victims of Other (Rape) Cases in
India (2005)

State-wise Cases Registered and Case Charge Sheeted under Cruelty
by Husband and Relatives against Women in India (2001 to 2005)

State-wise Number of Cases of Procuration of Minor Girls, Selling/
Buying of Girls for Prostitution in India (2001 to 2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered for Atrocities against Women
and their Status in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered of Harassment (Molestation)
and Sexual Harassment of Women in India (2002 to 2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered Under Procuration of Minor
Girls in India (2003 to 2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered under Rape, Molestation and
Sexual Harassment in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Complaints for Harassment of Women at Work
Place Received and Disposed by National Commission for Women in India
(2002 to 2005)

State-wise Number of Complaints for Harassment of Women at Work
Place Received and Disposed of by Department of Women and Child
Development in India (2002 to 2005)

State-wise Number of Dowry Deaths Reported in India (1999 to
2005)

State-wise Number of Missing and Traced Men, Women and Children in
India (2005)

Cases Filed Against Clinics/Doctors for Communication of Sex of
Foetus in Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Punjab (As on
31.3.2004)

Different Types of Crimes Committed Against Women in India (2001 to
2004)

Month-wise Number of Complaints Received by National Commission for
Women in India (April 2003 to March 2004)

Number of Complaints of Sexual Harassment Received in Prasar
Bharati in India (2001-2002 to 2003-2004)

State/Month-wise Atrocities Complaints Received Against Women by
National Commission for Women in India (2004)

State/Month-wise Atrocities Complaints Received Against Women by
National Commission for Women in India (2004)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered for Atrocities against Women
and their Status in India (2004)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered under Rape, Molestation and
Sexual Harassment in India (2002 to 2004)

State-wise Number of Complaints for Harassment of Women at Work
Place Received by National Commission for Women and Department of
Women and Child Development in India (2002 to 2004)

State-wise Number of Missing and Traced Men, Women and Children in
India (2004)

Number of Cases of Eve-Teasing and Rape Reported in Metropolitan
Cities of India (As on 1st March 2003 to 31st August, 2003)

Category/Month-wise Complaints Received in National Commission for
Women in India (2001-2002)

City-wise Number of Rapes and Rapes with Murders in India
(2000-2002)

Different Type of Crimes Committed Against Women in India (1998 to
2002)

Nature and Number of Complaints Received Against Women in India
(January 2000 to March 2002)

State-wise Cases Reported, Persons Arrested, Charge-Sheeted and
Convicted in Custodial Rape in India (2001 and 2002)

State-wise Number of Complaints Received regarding Crime against
Women in India (1997 to 2002)

State-wise Number of Missing Girls (14-18 Years) in India (2000 to
2002)

Category/Month-wise Complaints Received in National Commission of
Women in India (April, 2000 to March, 2001)

Missing Women Registered and Percentage of Women Recovered in Six
Metropolition Cities in India (1999 to 2001)

Number of Dowry Death Cases Reported in India (During 2000-2001)

State-wise Cases Disposal of Cruelty (Husband and Relatives) by
Police and Court in India (1999 to 2001)

State-wise Disposal of Dowry Prohibition Act Cases by Police and
Court in India (1999 to 2001)

State-wise Incidence of Incest Rape Cases Registered in India (1999
to 2001)

State-wise Incidence of Molestation and Percentage Variation Over
Previous Year in India (1999-2001)

State-wise Incidence of Procuration of Minor Girls, Selling/Buying
of Girls for Prostitution in India (During 2000 to 2001)

State-wise Incidence of Total Crime Committed Against Women in
India (1999 to 2001)

Crime Head-wise Incidents of Crime Against Women in India (1990 to
2000)

Different Types of Crimes Committed Against Women in India (1990 to
2000)

Disposal of Custodial Rape Cases by Courts in India (1995 to
2000)

Disposal of Custodial Rape Cases by Police in India (1995 to
2000)

State-wise Cases Reported, Persons Arrested, Charge-Sheeted and
Convicted in Custodial Rape in India (1998 to 2000)

State-wise Incidence of Rape (upto Available Month) in India (1998
to 2000)

State-wise Incidence of Sexual Harassment and Total Crime Committed
Against Women in India (1998 to 2000)

State-wise Number of Complaints handled by the National Commission
for Women in India (1998 to 2000)

State-wise Rape Cases Reported, Chargesheeted and Convicted in
India (During 1999-2000)

State-wise Trade of Girls for Prostitution in India (1999 and
2000)

Disposal of Crimes Against Women Cases by Courts in India (1997 to
1999)

Disposal of Crimes Against Women Cases by Police in India (1997 to
1999)

State-wise Incidence of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, Indecent
Representation of Women (Pre.) Act, Dowry Prohibition Act Committed
Against Women in India (1999) - Part III

State-wise Incidence of Molestation, Sexual Harassment (Eve-
Teasing), Importing of Girls Committed Against Women in India (1999) -
Part II

State-wise Incidence of Procuration of Minor Girls, Selling/Buying
of Girls for Prostitution in India (During 1998 to 1999)

State-wise Incidence of Rape, Kidnapping and Abduction, Dowry
Deaths and Cruelty by Husband and Relatives Committed Against Women in
India (1999) - Part I

Percentage Distribution of Various Crimes against Women in India
(1998)

State/Cities-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide Not
Amounting to Murder (C.H.) in India (1998) - Part I

State/Cities-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide Not
Amounting to Murder (C.H.) in India (1998) - Part II

State-wise Incidence of Immoral Traffic (P) Act, Indecent Rep. Of
Women (P) Act, Dowry Proh. Act Committed Against Women in India (1998)
- Part III

State-wise Incidence of Molestation, Eve-Teasing, Importing of
Girls and Sati-Prevention Act Committed Against Women in India (1998)
- Part II

State-wise Incidence of Rape, Kidnapping and Abduction, Dowry
Deaths and Cruelty by Husband and Relatives Committed Against Women in
India (1998) - Part I

Incidence and Rate of Crime Committed Against Women

Offenders Relation and Proximity to Rape Victims

Victims of Rape under Different Age Group

Releted Links
Indicators on Other Attainment

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/incidenceofcrime/130/crimeagainstwomen/17911/stats.aspx

Foetiside

Figures at All-India / State level : (Currently showing India with
State Level consolidated figures) Rajasthan |

(Data table headings are shown Year-wise in descending order)

Selected State-wise Number of Ultra-Sound Machines Sealed for Non-
Maintenance of Records/Non-Registration under Pre-Conception and Pre-
Natal Determination Techniques Act (PC & PNDT) in India (2005 and
2006)

State-wise Incidence of Female Foeticide in India (1994 to 2007)

State-wise Incidence of Female Infanticide in India (1999 to
2007)

State-wise Number of Bodies Registered, Court/Police Cases and
Machines Seized/Sealed under Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act 1994, in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Complaints Filed in Courts against Violators
of PC and PNDT Act/Rules in India (As on 31.7.2005)

State-wise Number of Bodies Registered, Court/Police Cases and
Machines Seized/Sealed under Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act 1994, in India (As on
31.3.2004)

State-wise Cases of Foeticide/Female Infanticide in India (2001 to
2003)

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/incidenceofcrime/130/foetiside/207039/stats.aspx

State/City-wise Incidence and Rate of Crime Committed
Against Women in India

(2000)

1 State/City
2 Incidence
3 % of Contrib.to All-India Total
4 Est.Mid -Year Pop.(In Lakh)
5 Rate of Cognizable Crimes
6 Rank*
7 Rank**

Andhra Pradesh

1 2 3 4 5 6

14299 10.1 758.5 18.9 4 3

Arunachal Pradesh

143 0.1 12.0 11.9 16 21

Assam

3732 2.6 263.0 14.2 11 13

Bihar

6299 4.5 1005.6 6.3 25 8

Goa

100 0.1 16.1 6.2 26 24

Gujarat

6140 4.3 484.9 12.7 14 9

Haryana 2.3 199.3 16.6 7 14

Himachal Pradesh

842 0.6 67.4 12.5 15 18

Jammu & Kashmir

1634 1.2 99.9 16.4 8 17

Karnataka

5852 4.1 523.0 11.2 19 10

Kerala 3.5 323.5 15.4 9 11

Madhya Pradesh

17902 12.7 802.3 22.3 2 2

Maharashtra

13177 9.3 914.3 14.4 10 5

Manipur

74 0.1 25.4 2.9 29 25

Meghalya

69 0.0 24.5 2.8 30 26

Mizoram

133 0.1 9.6 13.9 12 22

Nagaland

22 0.0 17.0 1.3 32 28

Orissa

4717 3.3 359 6 13.1 13 12

Punjab

2156 1.5 236.2 9.1 21 16

Rajasthan

12942 9.2 538 7 24.0 1 6

Sikkim

21 0.0 5.6 3.7 28 29

Tamil Nadu

13732 9.7 619 3 22.2 3 4

Tripura

330 0.2 38.1 8.7 24 19

Uttar Pradesh

18920 13.4 1715.4 11.0 20 1

West Bengal

7043 5.0 793.3 8.9 22 7

Total States

138572 98.0 9852 4 14.1 - -

Total (All-India)
141373 100.0 10021.4 14.1 - -

Cities

Ahmedabad
510
3.0
42.8
11.9
18
10

Bangalore
1255
7.5
57.1
22.0
7
3

Bhopal
320
1.9
16.9
19.0
10
15

Chennai
4037
24.0
67.5
59.8
1
1

Coimbatore
283
1.7
13.0
21.8
8
17

Delhi (City)
2122
12.6
120.6
17.6
11
2

Hyderabad
1227
7.3
71.5
17.2
12
4

Indore
372
2.2
14.6
25.6
5
13

Jaipur
804
4.8
22.1
36.4
3
7

Kanpur
956
5.7
24.8
38.6
2
5

Kochi
125
0.7
18.3
6.8
21
23

Kolkata
558
3.3
130.6
4.3
23
9

Lucknow
683
4.1
26.7
25.5
6
8

Ludhiana
289
1.7
17.3
16.7
13
16

Madurai
380
2.3
12.8
29.6
4
12

Mumbai
888
5.3
187.1
4.7
22
6

Nagpur
443
2.6
20.9
21.2
9
11

Patna
212
1.3
13.0
16.3
14
21

Pune
352
2.1
35.9
9.8
20
14

Surat
243
1.4
24.4
10.0
19
19

Vadodara
240
1.4
16.6
14.5
17
20

Varanasi
206
1.2
13.1
15.7
16
22

Vishakhapatnam
282
1.7
17.8
15.8
15
18

Total (Cities)
16787
100.0
985.4
17.0
-
-

Note : * : Rank on the basis of rate of total cognizable crime.
** : Rank on the basis of Percentage share.

http://www.indiastat.com/6/specimen.aspx

Crime against SC/ST

Figures at All-India / State level : (Currently showing India with
State Level consolidated figures) | Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Andhra
Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh | Assam | Bihar | Chandigarh |
Chhattisgarh | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | Daman & Diu | Delhi | Goa |
Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Jharkhand |
Karnataka | Kerala | Lakshadweep | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra |
Manipur | Meghalaya | Mizoram | Nagaland | Orissa | Pondicherry |
Punjab | Rajasthan | Sikkim | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttar Pradesh |
Uttaranchal | West Bengal |

(Data table headings are shown Year-wise in descending order)

Selected State-wise Central Assistance Released and Utilised under
Provision of Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989) in India
(2005-2006 to 2007-2008)

Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Scheduled Tribes by Court in India (2006)

State-wise Incidence (I), Rate (R) and Percentage Contribution (P)
of Crime Committed Against Scheduled Tribes in India (2006) - Part I

State-wise Number of Cases Ending Conviction under Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act. 1989) in India
(2004 to 2006)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered under Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in India (1998
to 2006)

Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Scheduled Tribes by Court in India (2005)

State-wise Funds Released Under Protection of Civil Rights Act,
1955 and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of
Atrocities Act, 1989) in India (1997-1998 to 2004-2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under Hurt of Scheduled
Castes (SC) (In Conjunction with SC/ST (P) of Atrocities Act) and PCR
Act in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under Hurt of Scheduled
Tribe (ST) (In Conjunction with SC/ST (P) of Atrocities Act) and PCR
Act in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under Kidnapping and
Abduction and Dacoity of Scheduled Tribe (ST) (In Conjunction with SC/
ST (P) of Atrocities Act) in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under Murder and Rape of
Scheduled Tribe (ST) (In Conjunction with SC/ST (P) of Atrocities Act)
in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under Robbery and Arson of
Scheduled Castes (SC) (In Conjunction with SC/ST (P) of Atrocities
Act) in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under Robbery and Arson of
Scheduled Tribe (ST) (In Conjunction with SC/ST (P) of Atrocities Act)
in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under SC/ST (P) of
Atrocities Act Only and Other Crimes Against Scheduled Castes (SC) in
India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PA),
Persons Chargesheeted (PC), Total Persons Tried (PT), Persons
Convicted (PV) and Persons Acquitted (PQ) under SC/ST (P) of
Atrocities Act Only and Other Crimes against Scheduled Tribe (ST) in
India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered , Persons Arrested , Persons
Chargesheeted , Total Persons Tried , Persons Convicted and Persons
Acquitted under Kidnapping and Abduction and Dacoity of SC (In
Conjunction with SC/ST (P) of Atrocities Act) in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered, Persons Arrested, Persons
Chargesheeted, Total Persons Tried, Persons Convicted and Persons
Acquitted under Murder and Rape of SC (In Conjunction with SC/ST (P)
of Atrocities Act) in India (2005)

State-wise Number of Murder Cases Registered Against Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled Tribe in India (2005)

Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Scheduled Tribes by Court in India (2004)

State-wise Number of Atrocities Cases Registered under Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in
India (2002 to 2004)

Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Scheduled Tribes by Court in India (2003)

Number of Cases Registered under SC/ST (POA Act 1989 and PCR Act,
1955) in India (1997 to 2003)

State-wise Cases under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in Regard to Disposal of Cases by
Courts, Cases Ending in Conviction and Cases Pending in Courts in
India (1999 to 2003)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered by Police, Charge Sheeted in
Courts and Cases Disposed Off by Courts under Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in India
(2003)

Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Scheduled Tribes by Court in India (2002)

Selected State-wise Showing Disposal of Cases by Exclusive Special
Courts Booked Under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in India (31.12.2002)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered by Police, Charge Sheeted in
Courts and Cases Disposed Off by Courts under Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in India
(2002)

State-wise Police Atrocities Against Tribals in India (2000 to
2002)

State-wise Murder Committed Against SC/ST by Non-SC and ST in India
(2001 Upto available Months)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered by Police, Charge Sheeted in
the Courts and Cases Disposed off by Courts Under the Scheduled Castes
and the Secheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) in India Act,
1989 (2001)

Number of Crimes Against Scheduled Castes in India (1991 to 2000)

Percentage Share and Variation in IPC Crimes Against Scheduled
Castes in Total IPC Crimes in India (1992 to 2000)

State/UT with Maximum Percentage Contribution to Crimes against
Scheduled Caste in India (2000)

States with Maximum Percentage Contribution towards Various forms
of Crimes Committed against Scheduled Tribes (2000)

State-wise Number of Cases Acquital under Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in India (During
1998 to 2000)

State-wise Number of Cases Chargesheeted in Courts under Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in
India (During 1998 to 2000)

State-wise Number of Cases Conviction under Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in India (During
1998 to 2000)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered, Charge Sheeted in the Courts
and Cases Disposed off by Courts Under the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) in India Act, 1989 in
India (2000)

State-wise Number of Cases Registered, Charge Sheeted in the Courts
and Cases Disposed off by Courts Under the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) in India Act, 1989 (1999)

Cases Registered with Police under Different Crimes Head and
Atrocities on Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in India
(1995 to 1997)

Disposal of Cases for Committed Crimes Against Scheduled Castes by
Courts/Police

Disposal of Cases for Committed Crimes Against Scheduled Tribes by
Courts/Police

Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes Against
Scheduled Castes by Courts/Police

Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes Against
Scheduled Tribes by Courts/Police

Incidence of Crimes Against Scheduled Castes

Incidence of Crimes Against Scheduled Tribes

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/incidenceofcrime/130/crimeagainstscst/17913/stats.aspx

Juvenile Courts

Figures at All-India / State level : (Currently showing India with
State Level consolidated figures) Gujarat | Maharashtra | Meghalaya
|

(Data table headings are shown Year-wise in descending order)
Crime Head-wise Juveniles Apprehended under IPC and SLL Crimes by
Age-Group and Sex in India (2007)
Incidence and Rate of Juvenile Delinquency under IPC in India (1988
to 2007)
Juveniles Apprehended Under IPC and SLL Crimes By Age Groups in
India (1993 to 2007)
Crime Head-wise Juveniles Apprehended under IPC and SLL Crimes by
Age Groups and Sex in India (2006)
Crime-wise Juvenile Delinquency IPC Cases in India (1995, 2000 to
2006)
Juvenile Delinquency (SLL) Under Different Crime Heads in India
(2000 to 2006)
Juveniles Apprehended by Age Group and Sex in India (1971, 1981,
1986, 1987, 1988 and 1991 to 2006)
State-wise Number of Juvenile Justice Boards and Homes Setup under
Provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act,
2000 in India (2006)
State-wise Number of Juveniles Staying in Observation Homes Set up
under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 in
India (August, 2006)
Crime Head-wise Juveniles Apprehended under IPC and SLL Crimes by
Age Groups and Sex in India (2005)
Disposal of Juveniles Arrested under IPC and LSL Crimes in India
(1988 to 2005)
Juveniles Apprehended under Congnizable Crime in India (1971, 1981,
1986, 1987, 1988 and 1991 to 2005)
Juveniles Arrested under IPC Cognizable Crime and Offences under
Local and Special Laws in India (1968, 1971, 1981, 1986, 1988 and 1991
to 2005) - Part I
Juveniles Arrested under IPC Cognizable Crime and Offences under
Local and Special Laws in India (1968, 1971, 1981, 1986, 1988 and 1991
to 2005) - Part II
Crime Head-wise Juveniles Apprehended under IPC and SLL Crimes by
Age Groups and Sex in India (2004)
Juvenile Delinquency in India (1971 to 2004)
Crime Head-wise Juveniles Apprehended under IPC and SLL Crimes by
Age Groups and Sex in India (2003)
Crime-wise Juveniles Apprehended by Age Group and Sex in India
(2003)
Juvenile Delinquency under Local and Special Laws (Cases Reported)
in India (1971, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1991 to 2003)
State-wise Central Assistance Released under Programme for Juvenile
Justice in India (1997-1998 to 2002-2003)
Crime-wise Juveniles Apprehended by Age Group and Sex in India
(2001)
State-wise Number of Juvenile Courts and Junvenile Welfare Boards
in India (2000-2001)
Crime-wise Juvenile Delinquency IPC Cases in India (1991 to 2000)
Juveniles Apprehended by Age Group and Sex in India (2000)
State/City-wise Disposal of Juveniles Arrested under IPC and LSL
Crimes in India (2000)
State/City-wise Juvenile Delinquency IPC Cases in India (2000)
State/City-wise Juvenile Delinquency under Local and Special Laws
(Cases Reported) in India (2000)
State/City-wise Juveniles Delinquency Under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (2000) - Part I
State/City-wise Juveniles Apprehended Under Congnizable Crime in
India (2000)
State/City-wise Juveniles Arrested under IPC Cognizable Crime and
Offences under Local and Special Laws in India (2000) - Part I
State/City-wise Juveniles Arrested under IPC Cognizable Crime and
Offences Under Local and Special Laws in India (2000) - Part II
State/City-wise Juveniles Delinquency Under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (2000) - Part II
State/City-wise Juveniles Delinquency Under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (2000) - Part III
State/City-wise Juveniles Delinquency Under Different Crime Heads
(SLL) in India (2000) - Part I
State/City-wise Juveniles Delinquency Under Different Crime Heads
(SLL) in India (2000) - Part II
State-wise Juvenile Delinquency under IPC in India (During 1998 to
2000)
Juveniles Apprehended by Age Group and Sex in India (1999)
State/City-wise Juveniles Apprehended under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (During 1999) - Part I
State/City-wise Juveniles Apprehended under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (During 1999) - Part II
State/City-wise Juveniles Apprehended under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (During 1999) - Part III
States/City-wise Juvenile Delinquency under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (During 1999) - Part I
States/City-wise Juvenile Delinquency under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (During 1999) - Part II
States/City-wise Juvenile Delinquency under Different Crime Heads
(IPC) in India (During 1999) - Part III
States/City-wise Juvenile Delinquency under Different Crime Heads
(SLL) in India (During 1999) - Part I
States/City-wise Juvenile Delinquency under Different Crime Heads
(SLL) in India (During 1999) - Part II
States/City-wise Juveniles Apprehended under Different Crime Heads
(SLL) in India (During 1999) - Part I
States/City-wise Juveniles Apprehended under Different Crime Heads
(SLL) in India (During 1999) - Part II
States/UTs/Citywise Classification of Juveniles Arrested under IPC
and SLL Crimes by Economic-Setup and Recidivism in India (During
1999)
States/UTs/Citywise Classification of Juveniles Arrested under IPC
and SLL Crimes by Education and Family Background in India (During
1999)
States/UTs/Citywise Juveniles Apprehended under IPC Crimes by Age
Group and Sex in India (1999)
States/UTs/Citywise Juveniles Apprehended under SLL Crimes by Age
Group and Sex in India (1999)
State-wise Disposal of Juveniles Arrested under IPC and SLL Crimes
and Sent to Courts in India (1999)
State-wise Number of Juvenile Homes/Observation Homes/Special Homes/
Aftercare Institutions in India (1997-1998)
Crime Head-wise Juveniles Apprehended under IPC and SLL Crimes by
Age Groups and Sex in India (1996)
State-wise Juveniles Apprehended by Sex for Committing Crime under
IPC and SLL in India (During 1996)
State-wise Juveniles Apprehended under Different SLL Crimes in
India (1996) - Part I
State-wise Juveniles Apprehended under Different SLL Crimes in
India (1996) - Part II
State-wise Juveniles Apprehended under SLL Crimes by Age Group and
Sex in India (1996)
Crime Head-wise Juveniles Apprehended by Age Groups and Sex in
India (1995)
Juveniles Arrested under IPC Cognizable Crime and Offences under
Local and Special Laws in India (1968, 1971, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1991 to
1995) - Part III
State-wise Institution under the Juvenile Justice Act in India
(1994-1995)
Crime-wise Juvenile Delinquency IPC Cases in India (1968, 1971,
1981, 1986 and 1988)
State-wise Institutions for Neglected and Delinquent Children under
the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 in India
State-wise Welfare Boards and Juvenile Courts under the Juvenile
Justice Act, 1986 in India

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/juvenilecourts/148/stats.aspx

Crime against Child

Figures at All-India / State level : (Currently showing India with
State Level consolidated figures) Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Andhra
Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh | Assam | Bihar | Chandigarh |
Chhattisgarh | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | Daman & Diu | Delhi | Goa |
Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Jharkhand |
Karnataka | Kerala | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra | Manipur |
Meghalaya | Mizoram | Nagaland | Orissa | Pondicherry | Punjab |
Rajasthan | Sikkim | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttar Pradesh |
Uttaranchal | West Bengal |

(Data table headings are shown Year-wise in descending order)
State/Sex-wise Number of Children Traced in India (2005 to 2007)
State-wise Number of Children Missing (upto Age of 0-18 Years) in
India (2004 to 2007)
State-wise Persons Arrested under Kidnapping and Abduction in India
(2007)
Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committed Crimes
Against Children by Court in India (2006)
Number of Cases of Murder, Rape and Kidnapping of Abduction of
Children in (NCR Regions of Delhi) India (2004 to 2006)
State-wise Cases Registered Under Child Marriage Restraint Act in
India (March to June, 2006)
Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committed Crimes
Against Children by Court in India (2005)
State-wise Cases Registered, Charged sheeted, Trial Completed,
Convicted and Person Convicted Under Child Marriage Restraint Act in
India (2003 to 2005)
Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committed Crimes
Against Children by Court in India (2004)
Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Children by Court in India (2003)
State-wise Cases Registered, Charged sheeted, Trial Completed,
Convicted and Person Convicted Under Child Marriage Restraint Act in
India (2001 to 2003)
Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Children by Court in India (2002)
Victims of Child Rape in India (1992-2002)
Crime-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committed Crimes
Against Children by Court in India (2001)
State-wise Child Rape Victims (upto 14 years) in India (2001)
State-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committing Crimes
Against Children by Court in India (2001)
State-wise Disposal of Persons Arrested for Crimes Committed
Against Children by Police in India (2001)
State-wise Number of Cases Reported under Child Marriage Restraint
Act, 1929 in India (1999 to 2001)
Disposal of Cases for Committed Crimes Against Children by Courts/
Police
Disposal of Persons Arrested for Committed Crimes Against Children
by Courts/Police
Incidence and Rate of Committed Crimes Against Children

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/incidenceofcrime/130/crimeagainstchild/17912/stats.aspx

Violent Crimes

Figures at All-India / State level : (Currently showing India with
State Level consolidated figures) Delhi | Punjab | Tamil Nadu |

(Data table headings are shown Year-wise in descending order)

State/Age Group-wise Victims of Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to
Murder in India (2007) - Part I
State/Age Group-wise Victims of Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to
Murder in India (2007) - Part II
State/Age Group-wise Victims of Murder in India (2007) - Part I
State/Age Group-wise Victims of Murder in India (2007) - Part II
State/City-wise Number of Unidentified Dead Bodies Recovered and
Inquest Conducted in India (2000 to 2007)
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2007) -
Part I
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2007) -
Part II
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2007) -
Part III
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2007) -
Part IV
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2007) -
Part V
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2007) -
Part VI
State-wise Incidence and Rate of Violent Crimes in India (2007) -
Part I
State-wise Incidence and Rate of Violent Crimes in India (2007) -
Part II
State-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to
Murder (C. H.) in India (2007) - Part I
State-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to
Murder (C. H.) in India (2007) - Part II
State-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to
Murder (C. H.) in India (2007) - Part III
State-wise Number of Cases Registered /Disposed under Violation of
Human Rights in India (2004-2005 to 2006-2007)
State-wise Number of Victims Murdered by Use of Fire Arms in India
(2007)
State/Age Group-wise Victims of Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to
Murder in India (2006 ) - Part I
State/Age Group-wise Victims of Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to
Murder in India (2006 ) - Part II
State/Age Group-wise Victims of Murder in India (2006) - Part I
State/Age Group-wise Victims of Murder in India (2006) - Part II
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2006) -
Part I
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2006) -
Part II
State-wise Disposal of Violent Crimes by Courts in India (2006) -
Part III
State-wise Incidence and Rate of Violent Crimes in India (2006) -
Part I
State-wise Incidence and Rate of Violent Crimes in India (2006) -
Part II
State-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide not Amounting to
Murder (C.H.) in India (2006) - Part I
State-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide not Amounting to
Murder (C.H.) in India (2006) - Part II
State-wise Motives of Murder and Culpable Homicide not Amounting to
Murder (C.H.) in India (2006) - Part III
State-wise Number of Victims Murdered by Use of Fire Arms in India
(2006)
State-wise Number of Victims Murdered by Use of Fire Arms in India
(2003 to 2005)
Violent Crime (2004 and 2005)
Age Group/Gender-wise Victims of Culpable Homicide not Amounting to
Murder in India (2002 to 2004)
Age Group/Gender-wise Victims of Murder in India (2002 to 2004)
Age Group-wise Victims of Kidnapping and Abduction in India (2001
to 2004)
Crime Rate for Violent Crimes under IPC in India (1996 to 2004)
State/Age Group/Sex-wise Victims of Culpable Homicide Not Amounting
to Murder in India (2004) - Part I
State-wise Percentage Share of Violent Crimes to Total IPC Crimes
in India (2000 to 2004)
Victims of Murder by Fire-Arms in India (1999 to 2004)
Violent Crimes Reported in India (1996 to 2004)
State-wise Murder Cases Pending Investigation in India (1991 to
2003)
Violent Crime (2002 and 2003)

State-wise Number of Victims Murdered by Use of Fire Arms in India
(2001 and 2002)

Age/Gender-wise Profile of Victims of Murder in India (1999 to
2001)

Age/Gender-wise Victims of C.H. not amounting to Murder in India
(1999 to 2001)

State-wise Left Wing Extremist Violence in India (During 2000 and
2001)

Violent Crime (2000 and 2001)

Age-wise Victims of Kidnapping and Abduction in India ( 1999 and
2000)

Violent Crimes (1999)

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/incidenceofcrime/130/violentcrimes/17910/stats.aspx

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/incidenceofcrime/130/stats.aspx

http://www.indiastat.com/crimeandlaw/6/stats.aspx

...and I am Sid harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Crime in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crime is present in various forms in India. Organized crime include
drug trafficking, gunrunning, money laundering, extortion, murder for
hire, fraud, human trafficking and poaching. Many criminal operations
engage in black marketeering, political violence, religiously
motivated violence, terrorism, and abduction. Other crimes are
homicide, robbery, assault etc. Property crimes include burglary,
theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Corruption is a significant
problem.

Crimes against women

Main article: Women in India

Police records show high incidence of crimes against women in India.
The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 1998 that the growth
rate of crimes against women would be higher than the population
growth rate by 2010.[1] Earlier, many cases were not registered with
the police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation
cases. Official statistics show that there has been a dramatic
increase in the number of reported crimes against women.[1]

Sexual Harassment

Half of the total number of crimes against women reported in 1990
related to molestation and harassment at the workplace.[1] Eve teasing
is a euphemism used for sexual harassment or molestation of women by
men. Many activists blame the rising incidents of sexual harassment
against women on the influence of "Western culture". In 1987, The
Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act was passed[2] to
prohibit indecent representation of women through advertisements or in
publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner.

In 1997, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India took a
strong stand against sexual harassment of women in the workplace. The
Court also laid down detailed guidelines for prevention and redressal
of grievances. The National Commission for Women subsequently
elaborated these guidelines into a Code of Conduct for employers.[1]

While public urination is not practised by men of all ages in India,
it is socially unacceptable for girls and women to publicly urinate
when restrooms are unavailable. In other countries such as Laos,
Cambodia, and Vietnam public urination is practised by women when
there are no toilets. This leads to harassment and UTI in women.

[3] [4] [5] [6]

Dowry

Main articles: Dowry and Dowry law in India

In 1961, the Government of India passed the Dowry Prohibition Act,[7]

making the dowry demands in wedding arrangements illegal. However,
many cases of dowry-related domestic violence, suicides and murders
have been reported. In the 1980s, numerous such cases were reported.
However, recent reports show that the number of these crimes have
reduced drastically.[8]

In 1985, the Dowry Prohibition (maintenance of lists of presents to
the bride and bridegroom) rules were framed.[9]

According to these rules, a signed list of presents given at the time
of the marriage to the bride and the bridegroom should be maintained.
The list should contain a brief description of each present, its
approximate value, the name of whoever has given the present and his/
her relationship to the person.

A 1997 report[10]

claimed that at least 5,000 women die each year because of dowry
deaths, and at least a dozen die each day in 'kitchen fires' thought
to be intentional. The term for this is "bride burning" and is
criticized within India itself. Amongst the urban educated, such dowry
abuse has reduced dramatically.

Child Marriage

Child marriage has been traditionally prevalent in India and continues
to this day. Young girls live with their parents until they reach
puberty. In the past, the child widows were condemned to a life of
great agony, shaving heads, living in isolation, and shunned by the
society.[11]

Although child marriage was outlawed in 1860, it is still a common
practice.[12]

According to UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children-2009” report, 47%
of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18,
with 56% in rural areas.[13]

The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur
in India.[14]

Female infanticides and sex selective abortions

India has a highly masculine sex ratio, the chief reason being that
many women die before reaching adulthood.[1]

Tribal societies in India have a less masculine sex ratio than all
other caste groups. This, in spite of the fact that tribal communities
have far lower levels of income, literacy and health facilities.[1]

It is therefore suggested by many experts, that the highly masculine
sex ratio in India can be attributed to female infanticides and sex-
selective abortions.

All medical tests that can be used to determine the sex of the child
have been banned in India, due to incidents of these tests being used
to get rid of unwanted female children before birth. Female
infanticide (killing of girl infants) is still prevalent in some rural
areas.[1]

The abuse of the dowry tradition has been one of the main reasons for
sex-selective abortions and female infanticides in India.

Domestic violence

The incidents of domestive violence are higher among the lower Socio-
Economic Classes (SECs). There are various instances of an inebriated
husband beating up the wife often leading to severe injuries. Domestic
violence is also seen in the form of physical abuse. The Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 came into force on October 26,
2006.

Trafficking

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1956.[15]

However many cases of trafficking of young girls and women have been
reported. These women are either forced into prostitution, domestic
work or child labor.

Illegal drug trade

India is located between two major illicit opium producing centres in
Asia - the Golden Crescent comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran
and the Golden Triangle comprising Burma, Thailand and Laos.[16]

Because of such geographical location, India experiences large amount
of drug trafficking through the borders.[17]

India is the world's largest producer of licit opium.[18]

But opium is diverted to illicit international drug markets.[18]

India is a transshipment point for heroin from Southwest Asian
countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan and from Southeast Asian
countries like Burma, Laos, and Thailand.[19]

Heroin is smuggled from Pakistan and Burma, with some quantities
transshipped through Nepal.[19]

Most heroin shipped from India are destined for Europe.[19]

There have been reports of heroin smuggled from Mumbai to Nigeria for
further export.[19]

In Maharashtra, Mumbai is an important centre for distribution of drug.
[20] The most commonly used drug in Mumbai is Indian heroin (called
desi mal by the local population).[20]

Both public transportation (road and rail transportation) and private
transportation are used for this drug trade.[20]

Drug trafficking affects the country in many ways.

Drug abuse: Cultivation of illicit narcotic substances and drug
trafficking affects the health of the individuals and destroy the
economic structure of the family and society.[21]

Organized crime: Drug trafficking results in growth of organized crime
which affects social security. Organised crime connects drug
trafficking with corruption and money laundering.[21]

Political instability: Drug trafficking also aggravate the political
instability in North-West and North-East India.[22]

A survey conducted in 2003-2004 by Narcotics Control Bureau found that
India has at least four million drug addicts.[23]

The most common drugs used in India are cannabis, hashish, opium and
heroin.[23]

In 2006 alone, India's law enforcing agencies recovered 230 kg heroin
and 203 kg of cocaine.[24]

In an annual government report in 2007, the United States named India
among 20 major hubs for trafficking of illegal drugs along with
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Burma. However, studies reveal that most of
the criminals caught in this crime are either Nigerian or US nationals.
[25]

Several measures have been taken by the Government of India to combat
drug trafficking in the country. India is a party of the Single
Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), the Convention on Psychotropic
Substances (1971), the Protocol Amending the Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs (1972) and the United Nations Convention Against
Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988).
[26]

An Indo-Pakistani committee was set up in 1986 to prevent trafficking
in narcotic drugs.[27]

India signed a convention with the United Arab Emirates in 1994 to
control drug trafficking.[27]

In 1995, India signed an agreement with Egypt for investigation of
drug cases and exchange of information and a Memorandum of
Understanding of the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Drugs with
Iran.[27]

Arms trafficking

According to a joint report published by Oxfam, Amnesty International
and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) in 2006,
there are around 40 million illegal small arms in India out of
approximately 75 million in worldwide circulation.[28]

Majority of the illegal small arms make its way into the states of
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya
Pradesh.[28]

In India, a used AK-47 costs $3,800 in black market.[29]

Large amount of illegal small arms are manufactured in various illegal
arms factories in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and sold on the black market
for as little as $5.08.[28]

Chinese pistols are in demand in the illegal small arms market in
India because they are easily available and cheaper.[28]

This trend poses a significant problem for the states of Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh which have influence of Naxalism.[28]

The porous Indo-Nepal border is an entry point for Chinese pistols,
AK-47 and M-16 rifles into India as these arms are used by the
Naxalites who have ties to Maoists in Nepal.[28]

In North-East India, there is a huge influx of small arms due to the
insurgent groups operating there.[30]

The small arms in North-East India come from insurgent groups in
Burma, black market in South-East Asian countries like Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, black market in Cambodia, the
People's Republic of China, insurgent groups like the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Indian states like Uttar Pradesh
and pilferages from legal gun factories, criminal organizations
operating in India and South Asian countries and other international
markets like Romania, Germany etc.[30]

The small arms found in North-East India are M14 rifle, M16 rifle,
AK-47, AK-56, AK-74, light machine guns, Chinese hand grenades, mines,
rocket-propelled grenades, submachine guns etc.[30]

The Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs drafted
a joint proposal to the United Nations, seeking a global ban on small-
arms sales to non-state users.[28]

Poaching and wildlife trafficking

Illegal wildlife trade in India has increased.[31]

According to a report published by the Environmental Investigation
Agency (EIA) in 2004, India is the chief target for the traders of
wildlife skin.[32] Between 1994 and 2003, there have been 784 cases
where the skins of tiger, leopard or otter have been seized.[32]

Leopards, rhinoceros, reptiles, birds, insects, rare species of plants
are being smuggled into the countries in Southeast Asia and the
People's Republic of China.[31]

Between 1994 and 2003, poaching and seizure of 698 otters have been
documented in India.[32]

Kathmandu is a key staging point for illegal skins smuggled from India
bound for Tibet and PRC.[32]

The report by EIA noted there has been a lack of cross-border
cooperation between India, Nepal and the People's Republic of China to
coordinate enforcement operations and lack of political will to treat
wildlife crime effectively.[32]

The poaching of the elephants is a significant problem in Southern
India[33]

and in the North-Eastern states of Nagaland and Mizoram.[34]

The majority of tiger poaching happen in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.[35]

Following is a comparison of reported cases of tiger and leopard
poaching from 1998 to 2003:

Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Reported cases of tiger poaching[36] 14 38 39 35 47 8
Reported cases of leopard poaching[36] 28 80 201 69 87 15

Samir Sinha, head of TRAFFIC India, the wildlife trade monitoring arm
of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the World Conservation
Union (IUCN), told Reuters in an interview "The situation regarding
the illegal trade in wildlife parts in India is very grim. It is a
vast, a varied trade ranging from smuggling of rare medicinal plants
to butterflies to peafowls to tigers and it is difficult to predict
how big it is, but the threats and dimensions suggest that the trade
is increasing".[31]

Project Tiger, a wildlife conservation project, was initiated in 1972
and was launched by Indira Gandhi on April 1, 1973.[37]

With 23 tiger reserves, Project Tiger claimed to have succeeded.[37]

But according to critics like conservationist Billy Arjan Singh,
temporary increases in tiger population were caused by immigration due
to destruction of habitat in Nepal, not because of the widely
acclaimed success of wildlife policy in India.[37]

Cyber crime

Cases of spam, computer hacking, cyber stalking and email fraud are
rampant in India.[38]

The Information Technology Act 2000 was passed by the Parliament of
India in May 2000, aiming to curb cyber crimes and provide a legal
framework for e-commerce transactions.[39]

However Pavan Duggal, lawyer of Supreme Court of India and cyber law
expert, viewed "The IT Act, 2000, is primarily meant to be a
legislation to promote e-commerce. It is not very effective in dealing
with several emerging cyber crimes like cyber harassment, defamation,
stalking and so on".[38]

Although cyber crime cells have been set up in major cities, Duggal
noted the problem is that most cases remain unreported due to a lack
of awareness.[38]

In 2001, India and United States had set up an India-US cyber security
forum as part of a counter-terrorism dialogue.[40]

In 2006, India and the US agreed to enhance cooperation between law
enforcement agencies of the two countries in tackling cyber crimes as
part of counter-terrorism efforts.[40]

A joint US-India statement released in 2006 after talks between US
President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
stressed that in view of the importance of cyber security and cyber
forensic research, the two countries are also carrying out discussions
on a draft protocol on cyber security.[40]

Corruption and police misconduct

Main article: Corruption in India

Corruption is widespread in India. It is prevalent within every
section and every level of the society.[41]

Corruption has taken the role of a pervasive aspect of Indian politics.
[42]

In India, corruption takes the form of bribes, evasion of tax and
exchange controls, embezzlement, etc.

Despite state prohibitions against torture and custodial misconduct by
the police, torture is widespread in police custody, which is a major
reason behind deaths in custody.[43][44]

The police often torture innocent people until a 'confession' is
obtained to save influential and wealthy offenders.[45]

G.P. Joshi, the programme coordinator of the Indian branch of the
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi comments that the
main issue at hand concerning police violence is a lack of
accountability of the police.[46]

In 2006, the Supreme Court of India in a judgment in the Prakash Singh
vs. Union of India case, ordered central and state governments with
seven directives to begin the process of police reform. The main
objectives of this set of directives was twofold, providing tenure to
and streamlining the appointment/transfer processes of policemen, and
increasing the accountability of the police.[47]

In 2006, seven policemen were charge sheeted and eleven were
convicted[48]

for custodial misconduct.

Crime over time

Incidence of cognizable crimes in India 1953-2007[49]

A report published by the National Crime Records Bureau compared crime
rate from 1953 to 2006. The report noted that burglary declined over a
period of 53 years by 38% (from 1,47,379 in 1953 to 91,666 in 2006),
whereas murder has increased by 231% (from 9,803 in 1953 to 32,481 in
2006).[50]

Kidnapping has increased by 356% (from 5,261 in 1953 to 23,991 in
2006), robbery by 120% (from 8,407 in 1953 to 18,456 in 2006) and
riots by 176% (from 20,529 in 1953 to 56,641 in 2006).[50]

In 2006, 51,02,460 cognizable crimes were committed including
18,78,293 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 32,24,167 Special & Local
Laws (SLL) crimes, with an increase of 1.5% over 2005 (50,26,337).
[48]

IPC crime rate in 2006 was 167.7 compared to 165.3 in 2005 showing an
increase of 1.5% in 2006 over 2005.[48]

SLL crime rate in 2006 was 287.9 compared to 290.5 in 2005 showing a
decline of 0.9% in 2006 over 2005.[48]

Year[50] Total cog. crimes under IPC Murder Kidnapping Robbery
Burglary Riots
1953 6, 01, 964 9,802 5,261 8,407 147,
379 20, 529
2006 18, 78, 293 32,481 23,991 18,456 91,
666 56, 641

% Change in 2006 over 1953
212.0 231.0 356.0
120.0 -38.0 176.0

SOURCE: National Crime Records Bureau[50]

Crime by locale

Location has a significant impact on crime in India. In 2006, the
highest crime rate was reported in Pondicherry (447.7%) for crimes
under Indian Penal Code which is 2.7 times the national crime rate of
167.7%.[48]

Kerala reported the highest crime rate at 312.5% among states.[48]

Kolkata (71.0%) and Madurai (206.2%) were the only two mega cities
which reported less crime rate than their domain states West Bengal
(79.0%) and Tamil Nadu (227.6%).[48] Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have
accounted for 16.2%, 9.5% and 8.1% respectively of the total IPC
crimes reported from 35 mega cities.[48]

Indore reported the highest crime rate (769.1%) among the mega cities
in India followed by Bhopal (719.5%) and Jaipur (597.1%).[48]

Jammu & Kashmir (33.7%), Manipur (33.0%), Assam (30.4%) and Daman and
Diu and Pondicherry (29.4%) reported higher violent crime rate
compared to 18.4% at national level.[48]

Uttar Pradesh reported the highest incidence of violent crimes
accounting for 12.1% of total violent crimes in India (24,851 out of
2,05,656) followed by Bihar with 11.8% (24,271 out of 2,05,6556).[48]

Among 35 mega cities, Delhi reported 31.2% (533 out of 1,706) of total
rape cases.[48]

Madhya Pradesh has reported the highest number of rape cases (2,900)
accounting for 15.0% of total such cases reported in the country.[48]

Uttar Pradesh reported 16.9% (5,480 out of 32,481) of total murder
cases in the country and 18.4% (4,997 out of 27,230) total attempt to
murder cases.[48]

Crimes against foreigners in India

There are several instances of violent crime against foreigners in
India.[51]

Many of the crimes occur against foreigners only. Scams involving
export of jewels occur in India, which target foreign citizens.[51]

Political demonstrations are common in India. These demonstrations
often turn violent and routinely cause disruption of transportation
services, causing great inconvenience to foreign tourists in India.
Traveling alone in remote areas after dark is of particular risk to
foreigners.[52]

Because U.S. citizens' purchasing power is relatively large compared
to the general Indian population, they the preferred target for
robbery and other serious crime.[53]

In April 1999, Swaraj Damree, a tourist from Mauritius was befriended
by a group of Indians who later held him in 25 days of captivity. They
robbed him of cash amounting to US $1,500, took his travellers'
cheques, wrist watch, gold chain, bracelet, two bags and suitcase.
[54]

In 2000, two German trekkers were shot in Himachal Pradesh. A few
weeks later, two Spanish tourists were killed in Himachal Pradesh by
robbers.[55]

Many foreign tourists are victims of violent crime in Kolkata.[56]

In September 2006, criminals robbed the wallet of a British woman in
Kolkata.[56] The same month, a Japanese tourist was robbed on his way
to Sudder Street.[56] In October 2006, a foreigner was robbed in
daylight on Park Street.[56]

Petty crime

Petty crime, like pickpocketing, bag snatching etc. are widespread in
India. Theft of valuables of foreigners from luggage on trains and
buses is common. Travelers who are not in groups become easy victims
of pickpockets and purse snatchers. Purse snatchers work in crowded
areas.[57]

Passport theft

In India, stealing passports of foreigners from their luggage on
trains and buses is widespread.[51]

Theft of U.S. passports is very common, especially in major tourist
areas.[53][58]

Scam incidents

Many scams are perpetrated against foreign travelers, especially in
Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.[53]

Scams usually target younger foreign tourists and suggest them that
money can be made by privately transporting gems or gold or by taking
delivery abroad of expensive carpets avoiding customs duties.[53]

Such incidents pull the traveler over the course of several days and
begin with a new scam artist who offers to show the foreign traveler
the sights. They also offer cheap lodgings and meals to foreign
travellers so that they can place the traveler in the physical custody
of the scam artist and can leave the foreigner with threats and
physical coercion. In the due process, the foreigner loses his
passport.[53]

Taxi scam

There are also taxi scams present in India, whereby a foreign
traveler, who is not aware of the locations around Indian airports, is
taken for a ride round the whole airport and charged for full-fare
taxi ride while the terminal is only few hundred yards away.[57]

Overseas Security Advisory Council in a report mentioned the process
about how to avoid taxi-scam.[57]

Rape and sexual assault against foreigners

Incidents of rape and sexual assault against foreign tourists at
popular tourist spots is increasing in India. Many of the alleged
perpetrators are children of senior government officials or
politicians.[59][60]

In September 1994, Gurkirat Singh, grandson of the then CM Beant
Singh, was accused of abducting and molesting a French tourist Katia
Darnand in Chandigarh[61][62].

In March 2006, Biti Mohanty, son of a senior police official in
Orissa, raped a German tourist in Alwar, Rajasthan.[63][64]

A Japanese woman was raped in Pushkar, Rajasthan on April 2, 2006.[65]
[66] In June 2007, a South Korean was raped near Manali.[63]

In September 2007, two Japanese women were gang-raped in Agra,[63]

a popular tourist-spot in India where the Taj Mahal is situated. The
Indian state of Rajasthan, which is a popular destination among
foreign tourists with one out of every three foreign travellers
visiting the state, have been rattled by rape cases of foreign
tourists.[67]

On December 5, 2009, a Russian woman was raped in Goa by a local
politician John Fernandes. In February 2008, Scarlett Keeling, a
British national aged 15 was raped and killed in Goa [68].

In January 2010, a Russian girl aged 9 was raped in Goa [69];

referring to this and earlier cases, Russia threatened to issue an
advisory asking its citizens not to travel to the coastal state [70].

The US Bureau of Consular Affairs has warned women not to travel alone
in India.[58]

However in contrast the British Foreign office only advise women to
take normal precautions.[71]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Consular_Affairs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Foreign_office

See also

Caste-related violence in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste-related_violence_in_India
Corruption in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_India
Indian mafia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_mafia
Indian political scandals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_political_scandals
Law enforcement in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_India
Mafia Raj
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_Raj
Religious violence in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_violence_in_India
Kala Kaccha Gang
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_Kaccha_Gang

Notes

^ a b c d e f g Kalyani Menon-Sen, A. K. Shiva Kumar (2001). "Women in
India: How Free? How Equal?". United Nations. http://www.un.org.in/wii.htm.
Retrieved 2006-12-24.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._K._Shiva_Kumar http://www.un.org.in/wii.htm
^ "The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1987".
http://www.wcd.nic.in/dowryprohibitionrules.htm. Retrieved
2006-12-24.
^ http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/255611
^ http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-325432.html
^ http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=149258&go=tasha
^ http://radicalchange.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/cambodia-a-wayfarers-journey/
^ "The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961".
http://www.wcd.nic.in/dowryprohibitionact.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
^ (2006-12-19)"Women of India: Frequently Asked Questions".
2006-12-19.
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/women/faq.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
^ "The Dowry Prohibition (maintenance of lists of presents to the
bride and bridegroom) rules, 1985".
http://www.wcd.nic.in/dowryprohibitionrules.htm. Retrieved
2006-12-24.
^ Kitchen fires Kill Indian Brides with Inadequate Dowry, July 23,
1997, New Delhi, UPI
^ Jyotsna Kamat (2006-12-19). "Gandhi and Status of Women".
http://www.kamat.com/mmgandhi/gwomen.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
^ BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Child marriages targeted in India
^ http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09_Table_9.pdf
^ http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/18/stories/2009011855981100.htm
^ "The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956".
http://www.wcd.nic.in/act/itpa1956.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
^ P. J. Alexander (2002). Policing India in the New Millennium. Allied
Publishers. pp. p658. ISBN 8177642073.
^ Caterina Gouvis Roman, Heather Ahn-Redding, Rita James Simon (2007).
Illicit Drug Policies, Trafficking, and Use the World Over. Lexington
Books. pp. p183. ISBN 0739120883.
^ a b "CIA World Factbook - India". CIA World Factbook.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html.
Retrieved 2007-12-01.
^ a b c d India
^ a b c "Drug trade dynamics in India".
http://laniel.free.fr/INDEXES/PapersIndex/INDIAMOLLY/DRUGSDYNAMICSININDIA.htm.
^ a b P. J. Alexander (2002). Policing India in the New Millennium.
Allied Publishers. pp. p659. ISBN 8177642073.
^ Alain Labrousse, Laurent Laniel (2002). The World Geopolitics of
Drugs, 1998/1999. Springer. pp. p53. ISBN 1402001401.
^ a b "Mechanism in States".
http://narcoticsindia.nic.in/Mechinstates.htm.
^ Airports get scanners to check drug trafficking
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1680312.cms
^ "US names India among 20 major hubs for drug trafficking".
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=5f7ed0c7-60a5-40fc-bbf1-7e9b4c070f59&&Headline=India+among+20+major+drug+hubs%3a+US.
^ Daniel J. Koenig (2001). International Police Cooperation: A World
Perspective. Lexington Books. pp. p172. ISBN 0739102265.
^ a b c Daniel J. Koenig (2001). International Police Cooperation: A
World Perspective. Lexington Books. pp. p173. ISBN 0739102265.
^ a b c d e f g India home to 40 million illegal small-arms
^ "Small Arms Trafficking".
http://www.havocscope.com/trafficking/smallarms.htm.
^ a b c A Narrative of Armed Ethnic Conflict, Narcotics and Small Arms
Trafficking in India's North East
^ a b c Illegal wildlife trade grows in India
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSDEL8332720070817?sp=true
^ a b c d e The Tiger Skin Trail
http://www.eia-international.org/files/reports85-1.pdf
^ R. Sukumar (1989). The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management.
Cambridge University Press. pp. p210. ISBN 052143758X.
^ Charles Santiapillai, Peter Jackson (1990). The Asian Elephant: An
Action Plan for Its Conservation. pp. p30. ISBN 2880329973.
^ The situation in India
http://www.internatyearofthetiger.org/india.htm
^ a b Poaching & Seizure Cases
http://projecttiger.nic.in/poaching.asp#
^ a b c At least one tiger is killed by poachers every day
http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/oct/02tiger.htm
^ a b c Byte by Byte
http://www.rediff.com/netguide/2003/feb/18crime.htm
^ India cyber law comes into force
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/978231.stm
^ a b c India-US to counter cyber crime
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/978231.stm
^ Where will corruption take India? People's Union for Civil Liberties
http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Human-rights/2002/corruption.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Union_for_Civil_Liberties
^ Corruption in India
http://www.indianchild.com/corruption_in_india.htm
^ Torture main reason of death in police custody The Tribune
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070313/punjab1.htm#7
^ Custodial deaths in West Bengal and India's refusal to ratify the
Convention against Torture Asian Human Rights Commission 26 February
2004
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2004statement/146/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Human_Rights_Commission
^ Custodial deaths and torture in India Asian Legal Resource Centre
http://www.alrc.net/pr/mainfile.php/2004pr/41/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Legal_Resource_Centre
^ Police Accountability in India: Policing Contaminated by Politics
http://www.hrsolidarity.net/mainfile.php/2005vol15no05/2448/
^ The Supreme Court takes the lead on police reform: Prakash Singh vs.
Union of India, CHRI
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/police/india/initiatives/writ_petition.htm
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Snapshots – 2006 National Crime Records
Bureau
^ "Incidence of cognizable crimes (IPC) under different crime heads
during 1953-2007". National Crime Records Bureau.
http://ncrb.nic.in/cii2007/cii-2007/1953-2007.pdf. Retrieved
2009-11-08.
^ a b c d Snapshots (1953—2006) National Crime Records Bureau
http://ncrb.nic.in/cii2006/cii-2006/Snapshots.pdf
^ a b c "TRAVEL REPORT India".
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/report-en.asp?country=128000.
^ "India". http://www.canadiancontent.net/profiles/India.html.
^ a b c d e "India 2007 Crime & Safety Report: New Delhi".
https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=62883.
^ Foreign tourist drugged, robbed, tortured, released after 25 days
http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990420/ige20118.html
^ India's valley of death
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/909877.stm
^ a b c d "Shudder street".
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070218/asp/calcutta/story_7406290.asp.
The Telegraph
^ a b c "Crime & Safety Report: Chennai".
https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=62882.
^ a b "Consular Information Sheet: India".
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1139.html. Bureau of
Consular Affairs
^ Handle foreign tourists with care, DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_handle-foreign-tourists-with-care_1124186
^ Crimes against tourists alarm tour operators, DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_crimes-against-tourists-alarm-tour-operators_1123611
^ <http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?207483
^ http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/34517/
^ a b c "Main accused arrested in Agra tourist rape case".
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070924/211/6l4pp.html.
^ Biti Mohanty's father gets showcause notice, DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_biti-mohanty-s-father-gets-showcause-notice_1075743
^ Another foreign tourist cries rape, The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1497108.cms
^ Japanese tourist alleges rape, The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/20/stories/2006042006481000.htm
^ West India state troubled by rape case of foreign tourist
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/20/content_4451686.htm
^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3529865.ece
^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/goa/Russian-rape-case-Goa-women-s-panel-to-seek-details/502950/H1-Article1-502942.aspx
^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100128/jsp/nation/story_12036988.jsp
^ (15 February 2010)"India travel advice". British Foreign Office. 15
February 2010. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/asia-oceania/india.
Retrieved 22 February 2010.

References

New trends in drug trafficking
http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/19/stories/2008011956120300.htm
India becoming hot bed for drug trafficking: Expert
http://expressbuzz.com/edition/default.aspx
http://www.cyberlawsindia.net Cyber Crime in India
Mumbai mafia is using more sophisticated weapons then police

Further reading

Edwardes, S M (2007), Crime in India, READ BOOKS, ISBN 1406761265 .

Broadhurst, Roderic G.; Grabosky, Peter N. (2005), Cyber-Crime: The
Challenge in Asia, Hong Kong University Press, ISBN 9622097243 .

Menon, Vivek (1996), Under Siege: Poaching and Protection of Greater
One-Horned Rhinoceroses in India, TRAFFIC International, ISBN
1858501024 .

Vittal, N. (2003), Corruption in India: The Roadblock to National
Prosperity, Academic Foundation, ISBN 8171882870 .

Gupta, K. N. (2001), Corruption in India, Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd,
ISBN 8126109734 .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_India

...and I am Sid Harth

[chhotemianinshallah]

Article 370
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which is of a temporary
nature, grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Text of Article 370

In view of its importance the text of the article 370 (Without
amendments) is reproduced below:

Article 370 of the Constitution of India (Temporary provisions with
respect of the State of Jammu and Kashmir)

1. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution:

a. the provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the
State of Jammu and Kashmir,

b. the power of Parliament to make laws for the said State shall be
limited to;

i. those matters in the Union List and the Concurrent List which, in
consultation with the Government of the State, are declared by the
President to correspond to matters specified in the Instrument of
Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of
India as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature
may make laws for that State; and

ii. such other matters in the said Lists, as, with the concurrence of
the Government of the State, the President may by order specify.

Explanation—For the purpose of this article, the Government of the
State means the person for the time being recognised by the President
as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the
Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja’s
Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948;

c.the provisions of article 1 and of this article shall apply in
relation to this State;

d.such of the other provisions of this Constitution shall apply in
relation to that State subject to such exceptions and modifications as
the President may by order specify

i. Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified
in the Instrument of Accession of the State referred to in paragraph

(i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued except in consultation with the
Government of the State:

ii. Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other
than those referred to in the last preceding proviso shall be issued
except with the concurrence of the Government.

2. If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in
paragraph

(ii) of sub-clause (b) of clause

(1) or in second proviso to sub-clause

(d) of that clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the
purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall
be placed before such Assembly for such decision as it may take
thereon.

3. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of the
article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this
article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with
such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may notify:
Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the
State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the
President issues such a notification.

4. In exercise of the powers conferred by this article the President,
on the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State of
Jammu and Kashmir, declared that, as from the 17th day of November,
1952, the said art. 370 shall be operative with the modification that
for the explanation in cl.(1) thereof the following Explanation is
substituted namely:

Explanation—For the purpose of this Article, the Government of the
State means the person for the time being recognised by the President
on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the State as the
*Sadar-I-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir, acting on the advice of Council
of Ministers of the State for the time being in office.

Implications of Article 370

This article specifies that except for Defence, Foreign Affairs,
Finance and Communications,(matters specified in the instrument of
accession) the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's
concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the state's residents
lived under a separate set of laws, including those related to
citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as
compared to other Indians.

Similar protections for unique status exist in tribal areas of India
including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland
however it is only for the state of Jammu and Kashmir that the
accession of the state to India is still a matter of dispute between
India and Pakistan still on the agenda of the U.N.Security Council and
where the Government of India vide 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord committed
itself to keeping the relationship between the Union and Jammu and
Kashmir State within the ambit of this article .

The 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord mentions that " The State of Jammu and
Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in
its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of
the Constitution of India " .

Indian citizens from other states and Kashmiri women who marry men
from other states can not purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir.
[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Indira-Sheikh_accord

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu_%26_Kashmir

See also

Article 356
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_356
PART XXI of Indian constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PART_Twenty_One_of_the_Constitution_of_India

References

Full text of the articlePDF (387 KiB)
http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/PARTXXI.pdf
Article 370 text from wikisource
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India/Part_XXI
^ Vasudha Dhagamwar (May 04, 2004). "The price of a Bill".
http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/46240/. Retrieved 24 March
2009.

External links

Background of article 370
http://rashtraman.blogspot.com/2008/08/article-370.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_370

Indian Opinion
A real Indian view of current affairs

Sunday, August 24, 2008
Article 370

article 370 was introduced to abide by the terms of J&K's accession.
The accession of J&K was conditional.
India desperately wanted to prove 2-nation theory wrong and wanted a
muslim majority region under its fold, also the strategic significance
of Kashmir and willingness of Kashmiri leaders to have separate state
for themselves (under protection of India) were the main reasons why
India went ahead for accession of J&K.
When Instrument of Accession was signed, constitution of India was not
ready. As per clause 7 of the Instrument of Accession, J&K was not
committed to accept the future Constitution of India.
In 1949 november when all the princely state heads and provincial
heads of Indian dominion were supposed to issue proclaimations making
Constitution of India operative in their respective states and
provinces, J&K refused such proclaimation refering to the clause 7 of
Instrument of Accession. This is because the draft form of
constitution refused separate constitutions for the states and J&K
always wanted their own separate constitution.
There was a legal imbroglio in this situation, the accession issue was
already with united nations and in such situations India has to abide
by its promise. This lead to Article 306-A of the draft Constitution
of India (which became article 370 in the actaul constitution).
Considering the overall situation prevalent, Article 370 was a major
step forward at that time. The Article at least paved the way for the
Republic of India to make several laws and provisions of the
Constitution of India applicable to Jammu & Kashmir State beyond the
strait jacket of the Instrument of Accession. Besides, Article 370 was
conceived as a temporary arrangement, with hopes of a full integration
in time to come.

Posted by Shailendra at 1:25 AM
Labels: article 370, India, J K, kashmir
2 comments:
kavi deependra said...
thank you very much ..for such valuable information...
kavi deependra

December 25, 2009 10:26 AM
Acme Consultants said...
This information cannot be considered as full information. Please give
the actual reason

February 27, 2010 4:11 AM
Post a Comment

http://rashtraman.blogspot.com/2008/08/article-370.html

SP, RJD pipe down, Govt not in a hurry for Women's Bill in LS
PTI
New Delhi, March 10, 2010

UPA allies SP and RJD on Wednesday piped down on their threat to
withdraw support to the government and the ruling coalition appeared
not to be in a hurry to press ahead with the Women's reservation bill
in the Lok Sabha.

A day after the Rajya Sabha passed the historic legislation, Trinamool
Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, whose party boycotted the voting, on
Wednesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi who reportedly addressed
her concerns and assured her all parties would be consulted before the
historic legislation is brought before the Lok Sabha.

However, Banerjee continued to sulk over Congress attitude when she
walked away from the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the Railway
budget after a Congress leader made a veiled attack on her suggesting
she was not following "Cabinet discipline".

The timing of tabling the bill in the Lok Sabha was a matter of
speculation amid reports that the Government does not want to take any
chance with the crucial money bills to be voted before the House
adjourns for a recess on March 16.

However, Law Minister Veerappa Moily dismissed any fears of threat to
the government on the issue of financial business saying government
had the numbers and there was no deliberate strategy to delay the
Bill.

Parliamentary Affairs minister P K Bansal gave no indication of the
Bill being brought before March 16, saying "We want everyone on board.
We will certainly try for a congenial atmosphere."

On the other side, the Bill's strong opponents SP chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who had threatened to withdraw
support over its passage, did not execute their threat today.

Women's Bill to be in place in two years

It will be more than two years after the Women's Reservation Bill is
passed in Lok Sabha for it to be implemented because of the long
subsequent legislative and other processes associated with it.

"It will take a minimum of two years. Just like the delimitation
process...a commission or a committee it will take two to two-and-a-
half years from now. The process is such," Moily told PTI.

However, he expressed confidence that the reservation of seats and the
identification of 181 of the 543 seats for women in Lok Sabha will be
in place "definitely" before the next Lok Sabha elections due in 2014.

Apart from reserving seats in Lok Sabha, the Constitution Amendment
Bill, which was passed by Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, seeks to provide
reservation for women in 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in 28
assemblies.

The principle of reservation of seats for women will also apply to
seats reserved for SC/ST candidates.

The Bill also provides for rotation of seats reserved for women every
Lok Sabha.

Explaining the process, Moily said once Lok Sabha passes the Bill and
the President signs it it will be sent to all the states for
ratification.

At least 14 of the 28 states will have to ratify the legislation for
it to become a law. This process, Moily said, may take about nine
months.

Women's bill in LS likely on March 15

The Women's Reservation Bill, which has been passed by Rajya Sabha,
may be tabled in Lok Sabha on March 15 or 16 but a final decision on
it will be taken by the Business Advisory Committee which meets on
Friday.

"The BAC is meeting on Friday. It will have to decide the date," Law
Minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters when asked when the
Constitution (108th Amendment) bill would be tabled in the Lower
House.

Replying to questions, Moily said the bill could be tabled on March 15
or March 16.

He expressed confidence that the bill that provides for 33 per cent
reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies would have a
smooth sailing in the Lower House of Parliament too.

The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha yesterday with overwhelming
majority, with 191 voting in favour and only one against among those
present in the House.

Moily said the government has some other agenda like the Finance bill
and some legislations to replace ordinances that are needed to be
taken up urgently.

Asked whether there was any plan to revoke suspension of the seven
Rajya Sabha members considering demands for the same, the Law Minister
evaded a direct reply and merely said, "The Congress and UPA
government are not interested in keeping out members of either Lok
Sabha or Rajya Sabha. That is not our legacy. Our legacy is to involve
everybody.

No quotas within quota, no threat to Govt: Moily

Government ruled out providing 'quota within quota' for OBCs and
Muslims in the Women's Reservation Bill and said there was no
deliberate delay in bringing the measure to Lok Sabha on perceived
threat to its stability.

Unfazed by threats of withdrawl of support by allies like SP and RJD,
the Government is absolutely confident and has no worries about
numbers in Lok Sabha or about passage of the money bills in the lower
house.

"There is no provision for sub quota for OBCs or minorities under the
present scheme of things in Constitution and also because there is no
data available even today on communities and castes under the census,"
Moily said.

BPCC suspends Lalu's relative, Tytler says no

Congress in Bihar suspended RJD chief Lalu Prasad's relative Anirudh
Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav for reportedly speaking against Women's
Reservation Bill, but AICC general secretary in-charge of state
affairs, Jagdish Tytler, said no such measure was taken against him.

"He does not stand suspended as announced by BPCC president Anil
Sharma earlier in the day," Tytler told reporters in Patna.

Yadav had personally explained his position to him stating that he
believed in the policies and programmes of the Congress, Tytler said.

"Yadav has explained to me that he was not averse to the party line on
the Women's Reservation Bill. "I have asked Yadav to explain his
position in writing to which he has agreed," Tytler said.

Yadav, brother-in-law of Lalu, said, "I have not said anything on the
issue. Since the assembly elections are around the corner, some vested
interests in the party are playing dirty politics to malign me."

Earlier in the day, the BPCC chief said, "We have taken a serious note
of Yadav going to the extreme step of violating the party lines on the
bill and suspended him with immediate effect."

According to reports, Yadav had threatened to resign from the Congress
to protest against its stand on the Bill. He had switched over to
Congress following differences with Lalu on allotment of party ticket
before the last Lok Sabha election.

AP Cong demands Bharat Ratna for Sonia Gandhi

Hailing AICC president Sonia Gandhi for getting the Women's
Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, women wing of the Andhra
Pradesh Congress demanded that she be awarded Bharat Ratna for her
valuable contribution for the empowerment of women in the country.

"We have faxed our demand to President Pratibha Patil already. We will
meet her soon and request her to confer Bharat Ratna on madam
Soniaji," state Mahila Congress president K Ganga Bhavani said in
Hyderabad.

She said a resolution has also been passed in this regard by the
Congress' women wing.

Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the state Congress Committee, wore
a festive look with party members distributing sweets, bursting
crackers, lighting sparklers and dancing with joy over the passage of
the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha.

The party members hit out at RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Samajwadi Party
supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav
for opposing the bill.

"The behaviour of MPs who tried to snatch away and tear the papers was
abominable. If Lalu has so much love for dalits, then why had he made
his wife (Rabri Devi) chief minister. He could had made a dalit leader
the chief minister," T Venkata Ratnam, a woman Congress leader, said.

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ASK PRABHU

India Today ASK PRABHU Story If the Congress starts supporting Common
Civil Code, eliminates Article 370, terminates all the casts/religion-
based reservations, where would you be?

March 3, 2010

None of these changes would affect my life. I trust democracy and
nationalist secularism.

-Asked by Shivram Gopal Vaidya
***@gmail.com

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Why do you avoid answering the question that might put Muslim
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they hamper your channels' day-to-day work?
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Pakistan plays with our govt, like cat plays with a mouse, bleeding us
regularly. Yet our ministers run to defend tapori like pro-Pak
statements of some celebrities. What message does Pakistan get out of
this?
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How to elect honest politician where elections are based on money
power?
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I take extra care of my children studying in convent as I see so many
improper tricks are applied to make them deviate religiously. Everyday
after school I force them into Quransharif. Am I communal to defend
our beliefs?
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Sir, recently, I heard that India was rebuffed and snubbed in Tehran
and in Istanbul. Is this true? Why were we treated like this
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89187/ASK%20PRABHU/Sir,+recently,+I+heard+that+India+was+rebuffed+and+snubbed+in+Tehran+and+in+Istanbul.+Is+this+true+Why+were+we+treated+like+this.html

ASK PRABHU

India Today ASK PRABHU Story Mumbai is a part of India. Any Indian
can settle there. What about Kashmir? Do you and your channel support
the scrapping of article 370?

February 20, 2010

Why don't you read the Constitution of India? Many of us can't buy
land in many states in North East and even in Himachal. Article 370 is
part of our Constitution and it can be changed only by the state
assembly.

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AIMPLB begins a new journey from Lucknow
Farzand Ahmed
March 21, 2010

The 38-year-old All India Muslim Personal Law Board [AIMPLB] that
stands for the protection of Shariat and Muslim Personal Laws seemed
to be rewriting its own history on the banks of Gomti in Lucknow when
it elected when it elected four new female members to the 51-member
executive committee. With this number of elected members of Board
increased to five. [There were 25 nominated women members in the 201-
member general body].

The AIMPLB representing all Muslim sects and schools of thought is
currently in session for the first time in Lucknow which once
threatened its existence.

It was on the ground of gender bias within the Ulema-dominated
organisation and deliberate neglect of growing plight of women that a
parallel all-women All India Muslim Women Personal Board [AIMWPLB]
headed by Shaishta Ambar was set up in Lucknow some five years ago.
Later Hazrat Tauquir Raza Khan, the spiritual head of powerful Barelvi
school of Sunni Muslims split the Board and floated AIMPLB [Jadeed].

It was followed by third split in January 2005 in Lucknow when well-
known Shia cleric Khateeb e-Akbar Maulana Mirza Athar set up a
separate All India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board. The founders had
alleged that AIMPLB had been neglecting views of Shia community and
not doing much for the Indian Muslims as a whole.

Despite splits and criticism AIMPLB stood firmly. However, many
members viewed the direct election of four women members---Rukhsana
Lari, Safia Naseem [both from Lucknow], Noorjehan Shakeel [Kolkata)
and Asma Zehra [Hyderabad] was seen as sign of Board's acceptance of
the fact it could no longer ignore the growing pressure from Women.
Naseem Iqtidar Ali Khan was till now the sole woman member in the
executive committee. She continues to be on the panel.

Earlier in January this year AIMPLB Secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani had
held the first ever direct dialogue with women in Lucknow and faced
their anger over various issues including the issue of Talaq
[divorce].

Expands to NE States
Maulana Rabey Hasni Nadwi, head of the Dar-ul-Uloom Nadavat-ul-Ulema,
the Lucknow-based Islamic Seminary, was unanimously elected the
president of the Muslim Law Board for the third successive term.

According Board Spokesperson Zafaryab Jilani another significant
feature of elections was the Board's attempt to expand its
representation in the north-eastern States and Ladakh. The
representatives from these regions were elected as term members.
While, Maulana Bilal was elected from Meghalaya and Syed Ahmed from
Tripura, the Independent MP from Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir), Ghulam
Hussain and Maulana Ata-ur- Rehman, AUDF (Assam United Democratic
Front ) MLA from Badarpur in Assam were elected term members from
Ladakh and Assam.
Announcing the results of the elections, the AIMPLB spokesperson,
Zafaryab Jilani said the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman
Khan and retired justice, Mohammad Qadri were made the life members of
the board. Jilani said these appointments were made against the eight
vacancies among the 102 founder members of the Law Board.

Kamal Farooqui, Qasim Rasool Ilyas, Saifullah Rahmani, Maulana Atiqur
Rehman Bastavi and Syed Athar Ali of Mumbai were the new faces elected
as term members. Besides, 10 members would be nominated by the Board
chairman.

History
All India Muslim Personal Law Board was established at a time when
"the then Government of India was trying to subvert Shariah law"
applicable to Indian Muslims through parallel legislation. Adoption
Bill had been tabled in the Parliament. Mr. H.R.Gokhle, then Union Law
Minister had termed this Bill as the first step towards Uniform Civil
Code. Ulema, leaders and various Muslim organisations convinced the
Indian Muslim community that the risk of losing applicability of
Shariah laws was real and concerted move by the community was needed
to defeat the conspiracy.

"It was a historic moment" claims Board adding "this was the first
time in the history of India after Khilafat Movement that people and
organisations of Indian Muslim community belonging to various schools
of thought came together on a common platform to defend Muslim
Personal Law.

First such meeting was convened at the famous Islamic Seminary at
Deoband on the initiative of Hazrat Maulana Syed Shah Minnatullah
Rahmani, Ameer Shariat, [Bihar & Orissa] and Hakeemul Islam Hazrat
Maulana Qari Mohammad Taiyab, Muhtamim, Darul Uloom, Deoband. The
meeting held a convention in Mumbai on December 27-28, 1972. "The
Convention was unprecedented. It showed unity, determination and
resolve of the Indian Muslim community to protect the Muslim Personal
Law".

All India Muslim Personal Law Board was born
The Board came into limelight for the first time when it intervened in
the Shah Bano case and pressured the Rajiv Gandhi government to blunt
the Supreme Court rule. The government had asked AIMPLB then headed by
highly revered Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, then Chief of Darul Uloom
Nadvatul Ulema [Lucknow] to come out with the amendment in sections in
the Criminal Procedure Code [Cr PC] relating to the issue of alimony
[that was against Shariat]. And the law was changed which the Sangh
Parivar took up as an example of Muslim appeasement. Later Board
intervened in the Babri Masjid movement too. But so far the Board has
confined itself to the cause of Shariat. It also launched movement to
reform the Muslim Society in 1986 against misuse of Talaq, vulgar
display of wealth in functions like marriage, dowry, female foeticide,
illiteracy among women and also to spread the understanding of Shariat
[Quoranic laws] among men and women.
Its campaign includes revival and strengthening of Dar-ul-Qaza [the
court of Qazi] to deal with the disputes relating to Muslim Personal
laws.

Failure
Critics say that the male & cleric dominated organisation has
neglected the plight of women and failed to take any effective steps
to protect the women from the curse of Triple Talaq [uttering Talaq
thrice in one sitting verbally]. However, Senior Board member Zafaryab
Jilani [also Board's legal advisor] said though the Board was aware of
misuse of Triple Talaq, the question was how to abolish it. He said
different sects and schools have different practices but all the main
four Schools among Sunni sect were almost unanimous in favour of
Triple Talaq. Scholars, he said, also quote numerous Hadis [rulings
and sayings of the Prophet] on this.

Its role in the Imrana case was criticised everywhere. Imarana of
Muzaffarnagar was allegedly sexually assaulted by her father-in-law
but when the issue was highlighted a Fatwa had declared her husband as
her "son". This had led to hue and cry by women groups. The Board had
sent an investigation team but it tried to cover up the issue.

It also failed to bring out an effective Model Nikahnama that could be
acceptable to women groups too. Yet this time again it evaded the
Women Reservation Bill which was being projected by a section of
Muslim political leadership that it was against Muslim women. The
Lucknow session focused on Librehan Commission report stressing that
all the people found guilty of destroying the Babri Masjid should be
prosecuted and punished. It has also opposed the proposed Communal
Violence Bill. The Board was of the view that the proposed Communal
violence Bill was 'most harmful' for Muslims as it would not fix
responsibility of the police and administration. AIMPLB spokesperson
Mohammad Abdur Rahim Qureshi told mediapersons "Muslims have been the
sufferers be it riots in Bhiwandi, Meerut, Nalanda, Bhagalpur or
anywhere". Qureshi said the proposed legislation would be discussed in
detail. The Board has also opposed the setting up of a Central Madarsa
Board.
Having done this, scholars attending the 21st Session in Lucknow would
spell out the future plans at public meeting on Sunday evening.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89212/WEB%20EXCLUSIVE/AIMPLB+begins+a+new+journey+from+Lucknow.html

Abolish 370, says Bhagwat, Advani
Arvind Chhabra
Madhopur (Pathankot), March 20, 2010

Different leaders including RSS chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat and former
deputy prime minister L.K. Advani today raised demand to abolish
Article 370 from the constitution as they paid glorious tributes to Dr
Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, described as the first martyr of independent
India, who laid down his life for the principle of one nation, one
flag and one constitution. Various leaders had splurged in Madhopur in
Pathankot on the occasion.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, BJP president Nitin
Gadkari and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal were
among thousands who had gathered at the border point of Punjab-Jammu
and Kashmir (J&K) as it was here in 1953 he had started his campaign
to make J&K integral part of India and to make it possible for every
Indian citizen to visit J&K without permit. His life size statue was
unveiled and the place was named as Ekta Sathal.

Mohan Bhagwat gave a call to launch a second struggle to abolish
Article 370, the "last remaining symbol of disintegration." He also
demanded respectable rehabilitation of 3.5 lakh Kashmiri Hindu
migrants back in Valley, who are suffering in different parts of the
country.

Advani said that the struggle of Dr. Shayamal Prasad would be complete
only if Article 370 was repealed from the constitution. He said that
we became victim of British policy of disintegrating India even after
partition.

Gadkari, who also demanded repealing of Article 370 said that talks
with Pakistan would be futile till Pakistan continue to foment
terrorism from its soil.

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http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89000/India/Getting+official+access+to+Headley+will+help+India:+BJP.html
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http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/88969/India/Damning+Batla+autopsy+findings.html

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89176/India/Abolish+370,+says+Bhagwat,+Advani.html

Courtesy: Mail Today

Damning Batla autopsy findings
Aman Sharma
New Delhi, March 19, 2010

Eighteen months after the controversial Batla House 'encounter'in the
aftermath of the Delhi serial blasts, the post-mortem reports of the
victims are out and are drilling gaping holes in the police version of
the incident.

The post-mortem reports reveal that both the slain suspected
terrorists, Atif Ameen and Mohd Sajid, had injuries inflicted by a
blunt object, other than the numerous gunshot wounds on their bodies.

Sajid's post-mortem report also confirms he was shot three times in
the head with the bullets travelling vertically downwards, which was
visible in the photographs of Sajid's body published by MAIL TODAY
earlier.

The report says these three bullets having their entry wounds in the
scalp led to cranio-cerebral damage to the brain, causing Sajid's
death.

One of these bullets fired in the head exited from the back of his
chest, another came out near his jaw and the third one exited from the
back of his right shoulder.

There was another bullet shot behind his head.

How the police managed to shoot Sajid from above during an encounter
remains unexplained.

The report also confirms that Sajid has another bullet entry wound on
his right shoulder, which went vertically down and lodged in his
chest.

There were two more injuries on Sajid's body, which are non-firearm
wounds. How these wounds could be inflicted when bullets were being
fired from both sides, according to the police version, remains
unanswered.

These are injury numbers 13 and 14 specified in the post-mortem report
- the former is a four by two cm abrasion over the midline on Sajid's
back while the latter is a muscle-deep laceration wound of 3.5 by two
cm on the right leg. It is unexplained how Sajid could have got such
wounds before his death in a shootout.

The post-mortem report of Atif reveals his body was riddled with 10
bullets in the chest, abdomen, thighs, shoulder, neck and lower back.
He also has a nonfirearm injury - specified as injury number seven
which is an abrasion on his right knee.

The post-mortem reports have been furnished by the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) in response to an application filed under the
Right to Information (RTI) Act by a Jamia Millia Islamia student Afroz
Alam.

The Delhi Police had persistently refused to share these reports over
the last 18 months. Even the NHRC had skirted the issue initially in
their report on the Batla House encounter though it went to great
lengths to explain the fire-arm injuries to Delhi Police inspector
Mohan Chand Sharma that caused his death.

The NHRC, in its report, had merely said that the post-mortem reports
of the two suspected terrorists mentioned injuries other than fire-arm
injuries but did not disclose more or investigate how injuries by a
blunt object could have been inflicted in a shootout. The autopsies of
Atif and Sajid were done three days after the encounter by a panel of
three AIIMS doctors of forensic medicine.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had been fighting to get the post-
mortem reports made public, said the autopsy reports reveal what the
Delhi Police have been desperately trying to hide.

"Blunt injuries mentioned in the autopsy could not have been caused in
a shootout. Obviously, there was some scuffle or the two boys were
beaten up before they were shot.

How can anyone explain the top of the head bullet injuries or the one
in the top of his (Sajid) right shoulder - with all bullets going
vertically down in the body?" Bhushan asked.

He added: "Pictures of the bodies had exposed these injuries. The
police were hence desperately trying to hide these post-mortem
reports.

The non-firearm injuries on both the back and leg of Sajid cannot be
explained. That is why we have been demanding an independent
investigation into the alleged encounter." A senior doctor at AIIMS,
who was associated with the autopsies, said he could not explain the
nonfirearm injuries on Sajid's body.

"But the other three or four gunshot wounds on Sajid's head and
shoulder is possible in a shootout… for example, the terrorist may
have fallen after taking a bullet in his leg and could have been
firing at the police lying down. So, such a pattern of injuries is
possible in such a volley of fire," he said.

But Bhushan rubbished the explanation.

"If Sajid was lying down and firing, there should be a hail of police
bullet marks on the walls of the room. But there was none in the room
where the shootout happened," he said.

The Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association also reacted strongly to the
contents of the autopsies. "Almost all entry wounds on Atif's body are
in the region below the shoulders and at the back of the chest, which
point to the fact that he was repeatedly shot from behind. In Sajid's
case, the entry points of the gunshots and the fact that all but one
bullet travelled downward suggests he was held down by force (which
also explain the injuries on the back and leg), while he was shot in
the back and head," said Manisha Sethi of the association.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/88969/India/Damning+Batla+autopsy+findings.html

Getting official access to Headley will help India: BJP
PTI
New Delhi, March 19, 2010

With extradition of Pakistani- American David Coleman Headley now
ruled out after he pleaded guilty to terror charges, BJP today said
this was a loss but official access to India to question him would
help prove to the world about Pakistan's involvement in the Mumbai
strikes.

"It (consequences of his pleading guilty before a US court) is a mixed
bag. As we cannot get extradition, it is a loss. But, at the same
time, we can get official access and can officially question him so
our dossiers (against Pakistan) will be more weighty," BJP
spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

He asserted that though Pakistan may ultimately dismiss Headley's
confessions as "mere papers" and not evidences, the involvement of the
neighbouring country in the 26/11 terror attacks would be established
more firmly and be "very clear" to the world community.

"Now the trial of Ajmal Kasab (lone surviving terrorist in the 26/11
case) is winding up. So, I think we can expect the result in that case
also," he said.

Javadekar took a dig at the UPA government for making a "unilateral
offer" of foreign secretary-level talks to Pakistan inspite of its
continued support to terror.

"The real test of India lies in how it deals with Pakistan because
Pakistan has not changed a bit. It has not done anything, not taken
any credible steps....Terror continues, infiltration is growing. Still
government did a sudden U-turn and unilaterally offered talks," he
said.

This move had emboldened the Pakistani establishment, especially the
ISI, to simultaneously do business with India and plot terror,
Javadekar alleged.

He said it was ISI's policy to inflict a thousand cuts and wound
India.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89000/India/Getting+official+access+to+Headley+will+help+India:+BJP.html

Bhilai: Principal sends lewd SMSes to students; thrashed
Raghunandan Panda & Sunil Namdeo
Bhilai/Raipur, March 19, 2010

Parents of a Bhilai school students beat up its principal after he
allegedly sent lewd messages on their mobiles.

K.S. Chhabra, principal of famous school Maharishi Vidya Mandir, a
well known school in Chhattisgarh's steel city Bhilai, has been
accused of making obscene phone calls and sending lewd short messages
(SMSes) on some of his students' mobiles.

Chhabra even called them to his office in the school and at home, the
parents alleged. A victim recorded her principal's sickening demands
on her mobile and reported to the parents.

Enraged over the principal's gesture, the parents beat him black and
blue. They alleged that Chhabra's disgusting behaviour was going on
for a few years. They thrashed him all the way to the police station
until the policemen rescued him.

The police have started an enquiry into the matter and have recorded
calls by Chhabra as proof.

Bahadur, one of the parents of such students, said, "The principal
used to say that your children are failing. If you want them to pass
you will have to do everything I say."

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89030/India/Bhilai:+Principal+sends+lewd+SMSes+to+students;+thrashed.html

Thank God, we don't have a Thackeray here: Dikshit
PTI
New Delhi, March 20, 2010

"Thank God, we don't have a Bal Thackeray," said Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit on Saturday while calling Delhi a unique city where people
from across the country can live comfortably.

"We have varied culture and true cosmopolitan people. People from
Kerala to Jammu and Kashmir and to those from the North-East can live
here comfortably.

"Everyone knows what is happening in Mumbai (anti-north Indian
campaign). It certainly does not happen here. Thank God, we don't have
a Bal Thackeray here," she said about the anti-North Indian campaign
by the Shiv Sena and MNS.

Dikshit was speaking at an interactive session at a summit organised
by CII and the Wall Street Journal.

The chief minister also spoke about the uniqueness of Delhi, where
everything including its weather, is imported and the number of
heritage structures it has.

Related Stories

Mumbai: Sena chief targets Guv
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/86961/LATEST%20HEADLINES/Thackeray+targets+Maha+governor+over+'Mumbai+for+all'+remark.html
Bal Thackeray lashes out at IPL
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Video/28488/42/Bal+Thackeray+lashes+out+at+IPL.html
Bal Thackeray flays Tendulkar
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Video/71045/42/Balasaheb+flays+Sachin+on+Marathi+remark.html
Sena chief attacks Chavan, Rahul
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Video/82646/42/Bal+Thackeray+attacks+Chavan,+Rahul.html

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/89180/India/Thank+God,+we+don't+have+a+Thackeray+here:+Dikshit.html

ASK PRABHU

India Today ASK PRABHU Story As per our Constitution, an Indian can
stay or live in any part of India except Jammu and Kashmir. But some
political leaders, for their political gains, are opposing this. Is it
correct? I think the electronic media is more powerful to spread this
message.

March 3, 2010

The state of J&K enjoys a special status under Article 370 of the
Constitution. It doesn't permit people from other parts of India to
buy property in J&K. The BJP has been agitating for scrapping Article
370 but all other parties are opposed to such a move unless it is
proposed by the state assembly itself.

-Asked by Anil Kumar
***@gmail.com

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/86445/Ask%20Prabhu/As+per+our+Constitution,+an+Indian+can+stay+or+live+in+any+part+of+India+except+Jammu+and+Kashmir.+But+some+political+leaders,+for+their+political+gains,+are+opposing+this.+Is+it+correct+I+think+the+electronic+media+is+more+powerful+to+spread+this+message..html

BJP believes in one nation one constitution: Nitin Gadkari
PTI
Saturday, March 20, 2010 21:37 IST

Madhopur (Punjab): Asserting it stands for "one nation one
constitution", the BJP today said the party is firm in its resolve to
scrap article 370 of the Constitution providing special status to
Jammu and Kashmir.

"The party stands for one nation one constitution slogan given by
Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee," BJP president
Nitin Gadkari said here on the occasion of unveiling of a statue of
the late leader.

He said the BJP will not dilute its stand on abrogation of Article 370
and there is a need to emulate Mukherjee, who "fought for scrapping of
permit system prevalent in those days which debarred people to enter
and move freely in Jammu and Kashmir".

Gadkari said his party is opposed to the Centre's policy on Kashmir,
which is mere appeasement to those who pose a threat to the nation,
and its mild approach to tackle Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

Addressing the gathering, he said Pakistan continues to wage a proxy
war against India by sponsoring terrorism in J-K, while Naxalism is
posing an internal threat to the country.

The Centre has not yet come out with adequate measures to meet these
threats. The Government seems to be softening its stand on Pakistan
due to pressure of some foreign powers, Gadkari alleged.

"Kashmir is an integral issue and no talks with Pakistan can be
resumed unless it gives ample proof of striking hard on militants
operating from its soil.

"Pakistan should stop aiding and abetting terrorism in India," Gadkari
said.

Former deputy prime minister L K Advani in his address said while
Vallabh Bhai Patel and Mukherjee had a common resolve to see a strong
India, the British gave independence but with a rider that the rulers
of the erstwhile princely states could use their discretion on staying
with India.

Apparently referring to the "Mumbai for maharashtrians' issue, RSS
chief Mohan Bhagwat, who unveiled the statue, said Hindus were forced
to migrate from Jammu and Kashmir but the country belongs to all
Indians and regional chauvinism does not hold any place.

Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was also present
there, said Mukherjee's photographs would be put up in the gallery
here.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, state BJP president
Shanta Kumar, Punjab industry and local bodies minister Manoranjan
Kalia, Amritsar BJP MP, Navjot Singh Sidhu
were among those present on the occasion.

The place where the life-size statue of Mukherjee was erected was
named as 'Ekta Sthal'.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bjp-believes-in-one-nation-one-constitution-nitin-gadkari_1361427

Saturday, March 20, 2010

A possible deconvolution for the convoluted logic of RSS: What Mohan
Bhagwat could have said ....

In a recent blog entry the chief of RSS, Mr. Mohan Bhagwat (MB) was
criticised for saying: He who is an Indian is a Hindu and he who is
not a Hindu is not an Indian.

A long and winding debate ensued. It was desirable to retain the
informal notions related to the words Hindu and Indian, and yet
certain specificity was needed for precision, unambiguousness and
substantiveness.

Mr. Thammayya, in one of his comments, had asked: Hey, I have another
suggestion. What do you think, MB should have told? Interesting to
know this.

I have recently outlined an abstract version of Hindu-WOL (Hindu Way
of Life), terming it, for various reasons, Sanatana Dharma. In light
of this article, here is my take on what MB could have said:

One of the essential underpinnings of an open and free mind regarding
religious truths is: There can be points of view regarding the Truth
and the ways of attaining the Truth which are seemingly quite
different from the ones I uphold but are equally valid.

Hindus pursue and practice such openness and freedom.

A belief in exclusive monopoly regarding religious truths and/or
insistence on one's concrete details regarding the same, is
inconsistent with this notion of freedom.

India, in our view, is a home-nation for Hindus. Those who are not
Hindus are not legitimately Indian.

Remarks:

0. The term Hindu is not defined comprehensively here. And yet,
whatever is essential for for the political debate is captured in
terms of the concepts of openness and freedom.

For example:

a. The term Hindu is free from geographical, racial, linguistic,
regional connotations and overtones.

b. So there can be Hindus residing as citizens of other nations.

1. Similarly, India, although not defined comprehensively, is hinted
in the last sentence, to be the current geopolitical entity, whose
citizens we are. This suffices for the political debate.

For example:

a. The term India is free from racial, linguistic, and regional
connotations and overtones.

b. Those, who are currently residing in India as citizens but do not
honor this openness and freedom are termed illegitimate citizens.

This allows us to use the terms "Hindu" and "India" with specificity
necessary for the relevant aspects of political debate, while
retaining the same informal notions regarding these words, which most
of us may entertain.

Nonetheless, this is still a tentative version, and is open to be
improved upon. Readers' suggestions are welcome.

Interestingly, a Dutch Politician, Geert Wilders has said many things
which RSS could have, and should have articulated long long ago. Some
of these are, I have provided links obtained from the same wikipedia
page: "not tolerate the intolerant", "Ban Koran like Mein Kampf", and
"There might be moderate muslims, but there is no moderate Islam".

However, as I have repeatedly alleged, owing to intellectual lethargy,
among those who are supposed to provide India with political
leadership, these things have not happened here in India.

Posted by samAlochaka

http://medsyn.blogspot.com/2010/03/possible-deconvolution-for-convoluted.html

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

Deepak Miglani L.L.M. M.D.U. Rohtak / Dinesh Miglani L.L.B Graduate
from Delhi University

Religious conversion has become the subject of passionate debate in
contemporary India. From the early 20th century onwards, it has
surfaced again and again in the political realm, in the media and in
the courts. During the last few decades the dispute has attained a new
climax in the plethora of newspapers, journals, and books whose pages
have been devoted to the question of conversion. Apparently, a large
group of Indians considers this to be an issue of crucial import to
the future of their country.

Generally Speaking, Religion is s system of faith and worship of
supernatural force which ordains regulates and control the destiny of
human kinds.

The Merrian Webster Dictionary defined , Religion as an organized
system of faith and worship, a personal set of religious belief and
practice, a cause, principle or belief held to with faith and order.

The Oxford Dictionary defined, Religion the belief in a super human
controlling power, especially in personal God or Gods entitled to
obedience and worship.

Swami Vivekananda perceives religion as - it is based upon faith and
belief and in most cases consist only of different sect of theories
that is the reason why we find all religion quarreling with each other.
1

According to Sage Aurobindo, The quest of man for God is the
foundation for religion & its essential function is the search for God
and the finding of the God. 2

Hinduism in the view of Dr. Radhakrishan is The main aim of the Hindu
faith is to permit image worship as the means to the development of
the religious spirit to the recognition of the Supreme who has his
temples in all beings.3

We can conclude from the above discussion that no universally
acceptable definition as to what exactly "religion" is. There appears
to be near unanimity that religion, generally, is a belief or faith in
the existence of a Supernatural Being and the precepts which people
follow for attaining salvation.

Religion may be regarded as belief and patterns of behaviors by which
human try to deal with what they view as important problems that can
not be solved through the application of known technologies and
techniques of organization. To overcome these limitations people turn
to the manipulation of supernatural beings and powers.

Religion consist of various rituals, prayers, songs, dances, offerings
and sacrifices, through which people try to manipulate supernatural
beings and powers to their advantages. These being and power may
consist of Gods and Goddesses, ancestral and other spirits or
impersonal power either by themselves or in various combinations . In
all societies there are certain individuals especially skilled at
dealing with these beings and powers and who assist other members of
society in their ritual activities. A body of myths rationalizes or
explains the system in a manner consistent with peoples experience in
the world in which they live.

Every individual has a natural entitlement of religious faith and
freedom of conscience , a right to adopt or abandoned any faith of his
own choice. In this sense freedom of religion and freedom of
conscience is fundamental right both constitutionally and
conventionally.

The freedom of religion and freedom of conscience has been recognized
under the international law. The General Assembly of united nations
adopted without dissenting vote on 10th December,1948 the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights recognizing fact that the entire humanity
enjoys certain alienable rights which constitute the foundation of
freedom, justice and piece in the world.

In order to give effect to the Universal Declaration of human rights
the members of the united nations of also adopted the two conventions
in 1966 in this concern:-

1. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
2. International covenant on Civil and Political rights.

The Government of India by its declaration dated 10.4.1979 had
accepted Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two
international covenants with certain reservations which do not cover
the right to freedom of religion. Apart from this the Constitution of
India also enshrines the freedom of religion and freedom of conscience
as fundamental rights under Article 25,26,27,28,30.

Religious Conversion is multifaceted and multi dimensional phenomenon.
Indian society is a pluralist and heterogeneous society with
multiplicity of races, religious cultural, castes and languages etc.
Religious Conversion has always been a problematic issue in India.
Every incident of conversion causes lot of hue and cry in society;
especially it causes nostalgic feelings to Hindu organization because
of its inherent socio- political. Rigid and Stringent caste system
prevailing in Hindu Religion is one of the most significant factors
behind the religious conversion. This is because of this caste system
Dalits ( in most comprehensive and inclusive sense the word Dalit
includes Untouchables, Shudras and Adivasis) are the most susceptible
section of the society to religious conversion . The other causes of
conversion are

1. Polygamy which is prevailing in Islam
2. To get rid of unwanted matrimonial ties.
3. To get reservation benefits.

Polygamy is a system wherein a male person his authorized to keep more
than one wife/wives where all the other wife/wives are still alive, or
where a male person is authorized to solemnize more than one marriage.
Polygamy is just opposite to the system of monogamy. In the past
almost all the societies in the world have been either polygamous or
polyandrous. Monogamy was never a rule but an exception. Amongst all
the religions resourceful persons were allowed to keep as many wives
as he can afforded. But Islam has been exception to his general rule.
The Prophet Mohd. ( 571 AD-632 AD) the last messenger according to
Quaran laid down the principle for his followers that a person may
keep as many as four wives only and that too only in exceptional
circumstances prevailing in those days. The Prophet had allowed the
followers of Islam to keep four wives at one time because of the
contemporary reasons. During the life of Prophet the Arabian society
was the society of innumerable tribal communities and war was constant
phenomenon of those days in Islam. Hundreds of wars were fought
amongst those tribals can themselves, sometimes in the name of Jehad,
sometimes in the name of religion, sometimes for the sake of
established political hegemony. Only men were allowed to participate
in the wars and not the women. One of the obvious consequences of
these wars was that innumerable women became widows. One of the most
burning problem before the prophet was that how to manage the lives f
these destitute widows and the children. Nobody was there take care
for these helpless widows and children. So the prophet evolved out a
workable solution of the problem. He permitted the men that every man
would keep as many as four wives along with their children. So that no
widow or child would die out hunger starvation or illness. Through the
system every widow and her children were taken care of.

Here two important points are worth mentioning that:

1. The permission given by the prophet to keep more than one wives was
not a permanent prescription for all the times to come. But it was
only a temporary provision just to manage the cotemporary problems.
Along with the provision of keeping for wives the prophet imposed a
mandatory conditions upon the persons who might keep more that 1 wife
that if a person keeps more than one wife he must have an equal eye
upon all the wives. That is the principle of equality which was to be
observed and not to discriminate on any grounds whatsoever.

2. Keeping more than one wife was not prescribed as general rule. But
only an exception and that is only to deal with the above mention
contemporary problem. But after the life of the profit, the Muslim
leaders especially in India have misinterpreted the dictates of the
prophet in his concern and started receiving undue advantage of this
dictate of the prophet. Muslim religious leader and Ulemas have
maintained that the dictate of the prophet to keep four wives was not
a temporary provision rather it was a permanent dictate for all time
to come. This is how they have misconceived the dictates of the
prophet and justified and legitimized polygamy almost 1500 years after
the life of the prophet.

It is significant to mention that the practice of polygamy has been
abolished even in the constitutionally declared Islamic states long
ago but in India this practice is still valid under the Muslim
personal law. It is also pertinent to mention that the practice of
polygamy is anti feminist and it is discriminatory against Muslims
women because polygamy is a unilateral right provided only to Muslim
men. Therefore, it is suggested that the privilege of polygamy should
not be given Muslim community under their personal laws and uniform
civil code is the need of the hour.

The Impact Of Religious Conversion

The religious conversion into Islam by a person from non Islamic faith
is not valid if the conversion is done for the purpose of polygamy.
Neither Islam nor the law recognizing any such conversion in India. In
the case of Sarla Mudgal vs Union of India4 a married Hindu male
converted in to Islam for the sake of solemninising another marriage
as polygamy is permitted in Islam. The Hon’ble SC held that conversion
in to another faith Ipso-facto does not dissolve the first marriage
because no one is allowed to take the benefit of his own wrong.
Moreover the court held that the married person converting into Islam
is not entitle to marry another woman after conversion. It was held to
be an act of bigamy prohibited U/S 17 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and
punishable U/S 494 of IPC and it was further observed that the second
marriage is void.

In Vilayat Raj vs Smt. Sunita 5 it was observed by the court that if
both the parties to the marriage were Hindu at the time of marriage ,
pre-nupital law i.e. Hindu Marriage Act applied even after conversion
in Islam.

In Lilly Thomas vs Union of India 6 it was observed that an apostate
husband is guilty of bigamy U/S 494 of IPC if he marriage another
woman after converting into Islam. It was observed that holding such
person guilty of bigamy is not violation of freedom of religion U/
Article 25 of the Constitution, hence, Section 17 of H.M.A. 1955 is
applicable.

From the above it is clear that after the pronouncement of the
aforesaid judicial verdicts, polygamy is no more a valued person for
religious conversion into Islam.

A person does not ceases to be Hindu nearly because he declares that
he has no faith in his religion. A person will not cease to be Hindu
even if he does not practice his religion till he does not renounces
his religion or starts living and behaving like an atheist or agnostic
or starts eating beef or insulting God or Goddesses. He does not
ceases to be member of the religion even if he starts expressing his
faith in any other religion , he continuous to be a Hindu Chandra
Shekharan vs Kulundurivalu7

If a person converts from Hindu religion to Sikh , Budhism or Jainism
he does not cease to be Hindu since all these religions do not fall
beyond the definition of ‘Hindu’ in the relevant section of Hindu
Marriage Act . He ceases to be Hindu if he converts into Islam
Christianity or Jews or Zoroastrain, conversion into these religion is
a ground for desolation of marriage for the other spouse and not for
the spouse who converts into any such religion ( U/S 13 H.M.A)

Under Section 80 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 if
the husband gets converted into Non-Hindu faith wife is entitled to
live Separately without forfeiting her right of maintenance but if she
herself also ceases to be Hindu, she looses her claim of maintenance
under the section, But she is entitled under section 24 of H.M.A in
1955 for pedente-lite and permanent alimony.

Special Marriage Act 1954 reflects the true sprit of Indian Secularism
as it is in consonance with India ‘s heterogeneity and multiplicity of
religious faith. Conversion does not make any effect on matrimonial
ties as the Act is the secular legislations and itself contemplate
inter caste and inter religious marriages.

The Indian Divorce Act, 1869- If the husband gets converted into non
Christian faith, wife is entitled for divorce but vice versa is not
possible. If wife gets converted into non Christian faith husband can
not apply for divorce. NANG vs LABYA8

Under Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939 Section 4 says if a
wife renounces Islam, the marriage does not Ipso-facto dissolve unless
the circumstances warrant otherwise.

The picture is complete if we account for the fact that most of these
laws are aimed to keep the low caste Hindus within the fold of
Hinduism. And so while law prohibits conversion, 're-conversion' of
low caste Hindus is permissible. If a low caste Hindu who had
converted to another faith or any of his descendants reconverts to
Hinduism, he might get back his original caste In Kailash Sonkar. 9

Major Events Of Conversion

Major events of conversion are not reported unless they are
highlighted by media or a hue and cry is made by Hindu Organization.
Following are the major incidents of religious conversion in post
independence.

Nagpur:- The Ist and the biggest mass conversion which the country has
ever witnessed, took placed on the 14th day of October 1956. Place
Nagpur, Maharashtra, the city where the headquarter of Rastriya
Swayamsewak Sangh is situated. About a half a million Dalits said good
bye to Hinduism from their life and embraced Budhism under the
leadership of the greatest social reformer, the great visionary and
the prophet of Dalit emancipation Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

Meenakshipuram:- The significant event of religious conversion took
place on Feb 19th 1981 at Meenakshipuram of Kanyakumari District in
Tamil Nadu. Where 280 families got converted to Islam. All of these
280 families cited social reasons behind their conversion. These
reasons were persecution, ill treatment and humiliation they
constantly had to face at the hands of upper caste of Hindus which
made their lives miserable and worst than animals.

Dulina :- Another significant even t of religious conversion which
created a lot of hue and cry in the society took place at Gurgaon,
Haryana 2002. This all had happened after a very pathetic incident of
burning Five Dalits Alive by a mob of upper caste people in a police
station at Dulina in Jhajjar District in Haryana. Police remain silent
spectator. Now nothing was left for the families of these massacred
Dalits to remain in such a violent and hatred preaching system of
faith, where in Dalit have no place. All the five families of
massacred Dalits got converted in to Buddhism at Rabidas Mandir,
Gurgaon, Haryana on 28th October 2002 under the banner of All India
Confederation of SC/ST organization and the Lord Buddha club in the
presence of famous film director, All India Christian Council , Jamait
Ulma-I Hind and in the presence of Media Persons.

Another dimension of this event of conversion is that after these
event of conversion all the Saffron Hindu Organizations rushed to
these families and threatened them to face dire consequences on
account of the above said conversion. Due to assaults and threats and
under the pressure of these Hindu Organization, ultimately, these
sacred Dalit Families broke down and had to make a public statement
that we did not leave Hindu religion , we did not convert.

In July 2002 another incident of religious conversion took place
Guntur distt. Andhra Pardesh were 70 Dalits converted in to
Christianity.

Delhi:- In the year 2002 Udit Raj the Chairman of All India
Confederation of SC/ST Organizations and the Lord Buddha Club give a
national wide call for conversion. This conversion ceremony was
supposed to be performed at Ram Leela Maidan of Delhi . Around one
million Dalits were supposed to get convert into Buddhism.

The preparation regarding the conversion programme were on . This
nation wide call for the conversion got an unprecedented coverage in
national and international media. Dehydration to saffron Hindu
organization regarding such a massive programme of conversion, was
oblivious. These organization resorted all means to shut of the mouth
of media , so that this call may not reach the public at large. The
Ram Leela Maidan , where the programme was supposed to be organized ,
declared as prohibited area and Section 144 of Crpc was imposed in and
around the area, all borders of Delhi where from influx of Dalits, to
take Diksha, was possible were sealed. The Government was determined
to ensure by hook or by crook let the programme may not be organized.
Finally, the organizer had to change the spot for the proposed
programme . The Government could not succeed to curb the enthusiasm of
dalits and ultimately more than 10,000 Dalits succeeded to say good
bye to Hinduism and embraced Buddhism.

Right to freedom of faith is not a conferred right but a natural
entitlement of every human being. In fact law does not assign it but
it asserts, protect and insurers its entitlement. Indian Society has
nourished and nurtured almost all the established religion of the
world like Hinduism , Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism
etc. from it s time immemorial. Article 25 incorporates right to
practice, profess and propagation of faith not only this , the Article
guarantees the freedom of conscience. Right to possess adopt abandoned
faith is ascribed by a person since his birth. India is a
heterogeneous and pluralist society with multiplicity of faith and
cultures. India most fundamental code of governance. i.e. The
constitution of India also asserts, protects and ensures this right to
all individuals irrespective of their religions, under its various
provisions especially Art. 25.

Every human being has a natural entitlement of religious faith and
freedom of conscience and right to adopt or abandon any faith of his
own choice. This being so , the freedom of conscience has been
recognized as a basic human right both constitutionally and
conventionally.

The Constitution of India aims at securing freedom of religion and
freedom of conscience under Article 25 ,26,27,28,30 and at the same
time it seeks to create a harmony among all religions. Being suitable
to the pluralistic society and historical lineage . Such freedom needs
to continued. Any other policy will not be unconstitutional but also
extremely harmful and suffocative for the public. It. However, need to
be realized that an incessant process of transformation and change is
also going on as change is the rule of nature. The ideas , faith,
psyche, behavior and attitude of people have always been subject to
change, though, the factors of change are spatial and temporal. An
important aspect with respect to change of faith is the state of One’s
awareness and ignorance. More awareness and enlightenment does
definitely have an impact on the thought, belief and action of a
person, faith and elements of conscience. Thus as regards conscience ,
state of knowledge is itself under a constant process of change and
every human being is undergoing a metamorphosis of understanding with
continuing with continuing process of experience of life and
learning . Therefore , it is advisable to tie up someone to a
particular faith for all the times.

But in Indian perspective , an aspect of freedom of conscience which
has attained a problematic dimension , is the right to propagate
faith. The meaning of propagation is to promote , spread and publicize
one’s relating to his own faith for the edification of others. The
term propagation implies persuasion and exposition without any element
of fraud, coercion and allurement. The right to propagate one’s
religion does not give a right to convert any other person to one’s
own religious faith. It may be pointed out that the right to convert
other person to one’s own religion is distinct from and individual
right to get convert to any other religion on his own choice. The
later is undisputedly is in conformity with the freedom of religion
and freedom of conscience under Article 25 of the constitution while
the former is the subject of long prevailing controversy with
reference to propagation of faith.

Religious conversion has always been a very sensitive social issue not
only because of the reasons that it has psychological concerns of
religious faith but also because it has wider socio-legal and socio-
political implications. It has also been revealed by the recent
incident of conversion in Haryana, Madhya pardesh , Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat , Orissa and in Delhi ( in Delhi according to official sources
around 20,000 dalits got converted in to Buddhism in the year 2002
under the nation a wide call for conversion by Udit Raj , the leader
of Justice party). On the one hand due to these recent incidents of
conversion the Hindu Safforn Organizations like R.S.S., V.H.P., Shiv
Sena , Bajrang Dal. etc. have made a lot of hub-bub and not only this
Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former prime minister call for a nation
wide debate on conversion

The legislative history relating to the issue of conversion in India
underscores the point that the authorities concerned were never
favorably disposed towards conversion. While British India had no anti-
conversion laws, many Princely States enacted anti-conversion
legislation: the Raigarh State Conversion Act 1936, the Patna Freedom
of Religion Act of 1942, the Sarguja State Apostasy Act 1945 and the
Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act 1946. Similar laws were enacted in
Bikaner, Jodhpur, Kalahandi and Kota and many more were specifically
against conversion to Christianity. In the post-independence era,
Parliament took up for consideration in 1954 the Indian Conversion
(Regulation and Registration) Bill and later in 1960 the Backward
Communities (Religious Protection) Bill, both of which had to be
dropped for lack of support. The proposed Freedom of Religion Bill of
1979 was opposed by the Minorities Commission due to the Bill's
evident bias.

However, in 1967-68, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh enacted local laws
called the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act 1967 and the Madhya Pradesh
Dharma Swatantraya Adhiniyam 1968. Along similar lines, the Arunachal
Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1978 was enacted to provide for
prohibition of conversion from one religious faith to any other by use
of force or inducement or by fraudulent means and for matters
connected therewith. The latest addition to this was the Tamil Nadu
Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Ordinance promulgated
by the Governor on October 5, 2002 and subsequently adopted by the
State Assembly. Each of these Acts provides definitions of
`Government', `conversion', `indigenous faith', `force', `fraud',
`inducement' (and in the case of Arunachal, that of `prescribed and
religious faith'). These laws made forced conversion a cognizable
offence under sections 295 A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code that
stipulate that malice and deliberate intention to hurt the sentiments
of others is a penal offence punishable by varying durations of
imprisonment and fines.

As early as 1967, it became evident that the concern was not just with
forced conversion, but with conversion to any religion other than
Hinduism and especially Christianity and Islam. In the Orissa and
Madhya Pradesh Acts, the punishment was to be doubled if the offence
had been committed in respect of a minor, a woman or a person
belonging to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community. 10

Moreover, Jayalalitha government in Tamil Nadu has gone to the extent
of enacting ant-conversion legislation (Tamil Nadu prohibition of
forcible conversion ordinance 2003) to put a check on the incidence of
religious conversion. In April 2006 The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantrata
(religious freedom) Bill, introduced by the BJP government, was passed
by a voice vote. The Chattisgarh Government passed an anti-conversion
bill in form of Chattisgarh Religion Freedom (Amendment) Act, 2006
providing for a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs.20,000 for those
indulging in religious conversion by force or allurement. The Madhya
Pradesh Government also passed a controversial bill to amend the
state's Freedom of Religion Act of 1968 to prevent religious
conversion by force or allurement.

The contention of the Hindu organization is that most of the minority
religious organization, especially, Christian Missionaries are
actively involved in the activities of mass religious conversion in
the name of social service. According to them the target groups of
these Christian missionaries are generally illiterate and poor Dalits
and Poor tribes.

On the other hand many dalit organizations and Dalit thinkers have
perceived these recurrent incidents of religious conversions as great
events of Dalit emancipation from the clutches of the vicious Hindu
Caste System which is and has been a constant stigma on the face of
Indian society. According to them, Hindu Caste System is founded on
rigid and the stringent Caste hierarchy . Due to this inhuman and hate
worthy Caste system Dalits and Shudras (Untouchables) have always been
treated inhumanly, they have been subjugated, oppressed and persecuted
by the so called upper caste Hindus or Manu vadis in the name of
caste. Dalit thinkers also allege that Hindu Soceity could not make a
adequate reforms in Hindu religion during last more than 3000 years ,
so that a lower caste Hindu could not live with human dignity in Hindu
religion. According to them majority of Dalits and shudras
(untouchable) are illiterate deplorably poverty stricken and living in
sub- human conditions. They have been denied basic human rights even
after 59 years of independence, Moreover, in day today life they often
to face atrocities and exploitation at the hands of upper caste Hindus
in the name of caste. Hindu religion does not treat its all follower
alike, Hinduism discriminates against one segment of its followers vis-
à-vis the other and does not treat all of them equally. It has failed
to provide social dignity to dalit and shudras. Therefore, they think
that it is better to kick our such an obnoxious and suffocating
religion from one’s life and to convert in a religious which does not
discriminate against them in the name of caste and which given them
equal treatment and dignified human life. That is why Dalits and other
progressive minds have supported the incidence of mass religious
conversion and consideration them to great events.

We can conclude from the above discussion that any protest against
religious conversion is always branded as persecution, because it is
maintained that people are not allowed to practice their religion,
that their religious freedom is curbed. The truth is entirely
different. The other person also has the freedom to practice his or
her religion without interference. That is his/her birthright.
Religious freedom does not extent (sic) to having a planned programme
of conversion. Such a programme is to be construed as aggression
against the religious freedom of others.

Finally, as far as Hinduism is concerned, besides it being vindicated
as a way of life, efforts must be made to augment its role as a form
of religion, that is, Hinduism must be practiced as a religion that
upholds the principles of personal freedom, self-dignity, social
equality and economic security. This will reduce the chances of
transgression by way of conversion in any manner. Scriptures like the
Vedas, Upanishads and the Gita should gather larger weight age and
reach the necessary quarters for sufficient lobbying to match the
access and emotional respect gained by the Bible and the Koran. The
image of a Hindu will go up not by blaming others for conversion but
by creating conditions that will make conversion by and large
unnecessary for the fellow members of his religion.

Foot Note:-

1. The Complete Words of Vivekananda, (1),P. 127
2. Shri Aurobindo-The Life Divine , P. 699
3. Dr. Radhakrishnan-Religion and Society, P. 103
4. AIR 1995 SC
5. AIR 1983 SC
6. AIR 2000 SC
7. AIR 1963 SC 185
8. AIR 1924 , Rangoon , 263
9. (1984) 2 SCC 91
10. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2002121700110200.htm&date=2002/12/17/&prd=op&

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Anti Superstition Law

Pritha Jha - IVth year law student - ILS law college, Pune

I

Introduction:

The history of the anti superstition bill began in 2003, when the
first draft of the anti superstition bill was tabled. It was called
the Jadu Tona Andhshradha Virodhi bill of 2003. This was the first
bill of its kind ever to be tabled anywhere across the country.
However, the bill was met with strong opposition by most parties as
the definition of superstition was considered too vast. What was
superstition and blind faith to one could possibly be belief and faith
to another. Amidst these arguments, the bill was finally passed with
some amendments. Although the bill was pending before the central
government for its approval for almost seven months, problems arose
when the elections began. The governor was of the view that since the
government was going to change, it would not be appropriate to put a
new law in place. Hence, as fate would have it, the bill did not come
into force. That however, was not the end of the journey and 2 years
later a new draft was tabled in March 2005 much like the one that was
tabled in 2003 with subtle differences and an amended version was
finally passed on the 16th of December 2005. This review examines both
the bills of 2005. The bill of 2003 was unavailable. Whereas the bill
of 2003 had been drafted by Mr. Narendra Dabholkar of the Andhashradha
Samiti, the bill of 2005 was drafted by Mr. Shyam Manav.

The Bills:

A first reading of both the bills gives one the feeling that the new
draft has included a lot more people in its purview and has also made
mild, some of the provisions of the older draft. The March draft uses
the words to protect the poor and ignorant people in the society
Against blind faith, ignorance and customs born out of blind faith in
the name of god...black magic by so called god’s men. The December
draft however uses the terminology of application to common people
customs thriving on ignorance and completely removes the usage of the
words blind faith...in the name of God and so called God’s men. It is
thus quite clear that the present bill recognizes the fact that it is
not just the poor and the ignorant who can be victims of tantriks and
babas but also the people of the upper classes that may be affected.
It also wishes to avoid opposition over the usage of the words God’s
men and in the name of God because practices and rituals practiced in
the name of God may be an expression of faith to some.

Short Title, Extent and Commencement:

The March draft of the bill was called the Maharashtra Eradication of
Black Magic and Evil Practices and Customs Act, 2005 whereas, the
final draft is called the Maharashtra Eradication of Black Magic and
Evil and aghori Practices Act, 2005.

The word Customs has been removed from the title and the word aghori
has been inserted possibly because of the difficulty in defining the
word Custom as would cater to the needs of this bill.

Definitions:

The definition clause has been severely shortened in the December
bill. The earlier bill included definitions of Black Magic. Magical
remedy. However, this has now all been covered in one clause. All the
words have the same meaning as they have been defined in The Drugs and
Magic Remedies (objectionable advertisements) Act, 1954 and the
criminal procedure code, unless, they have been expressly defined in
the bill. However, there are still certain terms such as Aghori, jaran-
maran, buvabaaji, devi mata or dev devaski which find no definition in
the Bill.

A rather large definition had been provided for in the March bill for
practice of Black Magic or blind faith. It included practice by a
person or through another by claiming to possess supernatural powers
or divine powers or power of the spirit for treatment or for curing or
for healing physical and mental ailments thereby causing material or
financial loss to a human being. This definition would have thus
included other varied practices such as Voodoo, Wicca and Reiki. This
however has completely been removed from the present bill. This is
probably one of the biggest reasons why the present bill was labeled
as anti-hindu, because it does not seem to cover the practices of
other religions such as Islam and Christianity.

A noticeable change is that of the inclusion of Doctors and medical
practitioners in the present bill. The earlier bill expressly excluded
this class of people. This would have given a license to doctors to
practice black magic; hence it has rightly been included.

Registered medical practitioner as defined under the Drugs and Magic
Remedies Act 1954, means any person, -

(i) who holds a qualification granted by an authority specified in, or
notified under Section 3 of the Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916 (7 of
1916) specified in the Schedules to the Indian Medical Council Act
1956 (102 of 1956); or

(ii) who is entitled to be registered as a medical practitioner under
any law for the time being in force ;in any State to which this Act
extends relating to the registration of medical practitioner;

Prohibition of Black Magic:

Both the bills prohibit the promotion, propagation and the practice of
Black Magic. The December Bill also prohibits the promotion, practice
and propagation of aghori practices. This also included people who
abet or attempt to commit any act punishable under this Act.

The March Bill provided that any person who contravenes the provisions
of the Act would be punishable with a term extending to seven years or
with a fine extending to fifty thousand rupees or with both. The
revised version of the bill however provides a minimum sentence of six
months extending to seven months along with a fine, the minimum limit
of which is provided at fifty thousand rupees. Hence the amended bill
comprehensively necessitates the imposition of both imprisonment and
fine.

Jurisdiction to try offences:

Both bills declare the offences punishable under the Act as cognizable
and non-bailable. No court inferior to that of a Metropolitan
Magistrate or a Magistrate of the First Class is permitted to try any
offence under the Act.

Offences by companies:

Both bills provide that if any offence is committed by a company then
every person in charge of and responsible to the company at the time
of commission of the offence for the conduct of its business would be
deemed guilty. It however, expressly excludes people who did not have
knowledge of the commission or people who had exercised all diligence
to prevent its commission. It also provides that if such an act is
committed with the consent or due to the neglect of any director or
manager or secretary or any other officer of the company who is
responsible for the exercise of due care then such a person would also
be deemed to be guilty under the Act.

A separate definition has been provided for a company under both the
bills which includes firms, an association of persons or body of
individuals, whether incorporated or not. Where the March Bill
includes trusts in the definition of a company, the December bill does
not. The reason for the exclusion of the same is unclear.

Vigilance officer:

There is a slight difference in the manner of defining the vigilance
officer in both the bills. The March draft provided that the vigilance
officer, who would be one or more police officers of the rank of an
inspector of Police, would be appointed for the whole State or such
part of the State as may be specified. However, the December draft now
changes this to one or more police officers for one or more police
stations as may be specified. The December bill thus does away with
the ambiguity of appointed police officers for parts of the State.

Where the duties of the Vigilance officer are concerned, most of the
duties remain the same. The earlier bill however, empowered the
officer to detect and prevent the contravention of the Act and to
report cases to the nearest police station within his jurisdiction.
However, the present bill lays a greater duty on the vigilance officer
because it requires him to take quick and speedy action in case a
complaint is filed at the police station by a victim. It also requires
him to give necessary advice, guidance and help to the concerned
police station. The rest of the duties such as collection of evidence,
performance of other duties as notified from time to time remain the
same under both the bills.

The March bill however, provided that the Vigilance officer shall
associate himself with the members of recognized organizations within
the area of his jurisdiction and co-ordinate with such organizations.
It further goes on to state what these recognized organizations would
be and what their duties would be. The bill stated that any social
organization which had been established and registered for not less
than two years under the provisions of the Bombay trusts Act, 1950 or
the societies registration Act, 1860 may apply to the state government
for recognition. It further provided that the government may accord
such recognition after due enquiries. It appears that the
Andhasharadha Samiti, being an organization which would fit in this
category wanted to be at the forefront of such activities while
drafting the bill. Being a recognized organization, the Vigilance
officer would then be forced to work in co-ordination with the
organization by virtue of section 6(3). This provision has been
deleted from the December Bill.

Power of Entry, Search etc:

The Act will give tremendous powers to the Vigilance officer as he
will have the power to enter and search any premises in which he has
reason to believe that an offence has been or is being committed. He
will also have the power to seize any instruments or material or
advertisements which he has reason to believe were being used for the
commission of the crime. It also gives him the power to seize any
other objects which according to him would help prove the crime. The
provisions of the criminal procedure code would apply to any search or
seizure under the Act as would apply to any search or seizure made
under the authority of the warrant issued under section 94 of the
Criminal Procedure Code.

Protection of action taken in good faith:
Common to both bills

The provisions of section 159 and 160 of the Bombay Police Act, 1951
shall apply to acts done in good faith by the Vigilance Officer as if
he were a police officer within the meaning of that Act.

Application of the provisions of the Code:
Common to both bills

The provisions of the Code shall apply to the investigation and trial
of the offences under this Act. Both the bills also go on to state
that this Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any
other law for the time being in force.

Publication of the fact of conviction:

Both bills make provisions for convicting courts to order the
publication of the name and the place of residence of the person
convicted in the local newspaper where the offence has been committed.
No such publication however, may be allowed until the appeal has
finally been disposed of.

Rules:

Both bills also make provisions for the making of rules to carry out
the purposes of the Act by notification in the official gazette. The
procedure for the making, modification and the annulment of such rules
has also been provided for under the Bill.

Power to remove difficulty:

This is an extremely ambiguous provision that had been put forth in
the bill of March which was removed in the new bill. It provides that
in case the State government encounters any difficulty in giving
effect to the provisions of the Act then the Government may take such
steps by notification in the official gazette as it may deem necessary
to remove such difficulty. Such an order, however, could not be given
before the passing of two years of the commencement of the Act.

Savings:

The bill of December 2005 provides for a provision which clarifies
that the Act would not apply to acts involving religious rites and
rituals which do not affect any person mentally or physically. This
has been done in order to avoid a religious uproar. It at the same
time however, also creates certain ambiguities as many acts can be
committed under the guise of being a religious act or a religious
ritual.

Schedules:

The schedule to the bill of March specified the acts which were
considered as offences. This has almost completely been changed in the
new bill and very little of the old bill has been retained. Whereas
the first bill listed out 27 practices, the new bill lists only 12.

The schedule to the March Bill included:

1) Under the pretext of expelling the ghost, assaulting by tying a
person with rope or chain, beating by stick or whip, to make the
person drink footwear soaked water, giving chili smoke, hanging a
person to the roof, fixing him with rope or by hair or plucking his
hair causing pain by way of touching heated object to organs or body
of a person, forcing a person to perform a sexual act in the open,
practicing aghori acts by chanting mantras, putting urine or human
excretion forcibly in the mouth of a person.

This clause has completely been retained. Only the words by chanting
mantras have been removed from the new bill in order to avoid
religious opposition. Chanting mantras need not necessarily be in
connection of aghori practices and is also used for religious
practices and to connect it with aghori would have caused religious
uproar.

2) Display of so called miracles by trying to create an impression of
existence of the things beyond or contrary to proven scientific rules
and to deceive, cheat or terrorize any person by propagation and
circulation of such practices. The wording of this section has
completely been changed and it now reads as follows:

Display of so called miracles by a person and thereby earning money
and to deceive, defraud and terrorize people by propagation and
circulation of so called miracles.

The intention of the legislators here appears to be that it is not the
belief of the people that should be attacked but only the people who
want to derive monetary gain out of display of miracles who should be
attacked. Even God is beyond scientific proof but the impression of
His existence cannot be challenged. Beliefs such as these cannot be
challenged under the guise of deception or terrorism. Another question
which arises is would magicians now be allowed to display their magic
for entertaining people? Although magic is not used always to
terrorize people, it does have that effect during the performance of
certain tricks.

3) Doing any inhuman act for search of precious things, bounty, water
resource in the form of karni, bhanmati and making or trying to make
human sacrifice by making jaran-maran, buvabaaji, devi mata or dev
devaski.

The following clause has been more appropriately drafted in the latest
bill and it now reads as follows: Doing any inhuman act in search of
precious things, bounty, water resource or for similar reasons in the
name of karni, bhanamati and making or trying to make human sacrifice
in the name of jaran-maran, or dev-devaski or to advice, instigate or
encourage committing of such inhuman acts.

The words buvabaaji and devi mata have been excluded and the other
words highlighted have been included. Thus not only the act itself but
also the instigation or the propagation of the act would comprise the
offence.

4) In case of dog bite, knowingly committing the act of giving
unscientific treatment of mantra tantra, gandadora and herbs, etc. to
a person infected with rabies instead of modern medical treatment or
preventing him from accepting the same.

Only a part of this clause has been retained and other bites such as
those of a scorpion and a snake have been included. A separate clause
had been put for snake bites in the earlier bill. This has now been
included in the same clause. Thus if a person is bitten by any of
these and such a person is treated by mantra tantra and ganda dora, it
would be an offence. The usage of herbs has been excluded. It is a
proven fact that herbs have medicinal value and hence its usage has
been allowed under the present bill unlike its prohibition in the
earlier one.

5) Piercing needle, and nails or other such objects in the arm,
tongue, chicks or any other part of the body, pricking pointed objects
in the body, whipping oneself, to bang oneself on the wall of temple
with intention of fulfilling the prayer made before God or commitment,
cutting oneself with a sharp instrument on one’s forehead and on any
other part of the body or to inflict self injury or committing any act
in public place which causes pain to normal human being in the name of
religious customs or traditions. This provision has completely been
removed from the present bill.

These acts need not be committed in religious faith. People pierce
their tongues even in the name of fashion. Again, a practice which may
not make sense to a person may make sense to another because he has
faith in it. Hence, such exhaustive provisions cannot be put into the
Bill.

6) Defrauding people, in the name of God and faith to have illicit
sexual relationship with women or men either natural or unnatural,
with or without consent of the person involved.

This provision has been deleted from the present bill because these
acts have already been declared to be illegal under the Indian Penal
Code and hence they are not necessary.

Instead, the following provisions have been included:

To create an impression that oneself is having special supernatural
powers, incarnation of another person or holy spirit, or that the
devotee was his wife, husband or paramour in past birth thereby
indulging in sexual activity with such person.

To keep sexual relations with a woman who is unable to conceive
assuring her of motherhood through supernatural powers.

7) Create or to propagate of inviting spirit of God or Goddess through
any person as a medium. This has been removed from the present bill
and the following has been included:

To create an impression by declaring that a divine spirit has
influenced one’s body or that a person has possessed such divine
spirit and thereby create fear in the mind of others or to threaten
others of evil consequences for not following the advice of such
person.

This provision makes clear that it is not merely the practice of
inviting a spirit that is causing harm but the fact that it is being
propagated in society causing fear in the minds of the people. This
needs to be stopped.

8) Assuring any woman to perform gopala santan ritual in the fourth
month of her pregnancy for birth of a male child, operating stomach by
fingers, diagnosing disease by placing stone, farshi (tile) on the
head, making use of improper and harmful methods to diagnose and treat
diseases and illness; claim to have divine remedies for abortion,
contraception, enhancement of physical satisfaction in the sexual act
for men and women, increasing their sexual powers, menstruation
problems, conceiving, etc.

In the disguise of offering motherhood by performing some divine act
or magical remedy keeping sexual relations with women who are unable
to conceive, deflowering them, keeping illicit sexual relations with
them.

This has now been removed and a short provision stating that claiming
to perform surgery by fingers or claiming to change the sex of a
foetus in the womb of a woman, has been put in place.

9) To spread threat amongst the people by way of invoking by mantras,
putting up a false show to make a person free from poisonous
infection, creating an impression that there is ghostly or divine
wrath causing physical injuries and stopping a person from taking
medical treatment and instead diverting him to practice aghori acts or
deeds.

The following provision in this regard has been included instead:

To create panic in the mind of public in general by way of invoking
ghosts by mantras, or threaten to invoke ghost, putting up a false
show to make a person free from poisonous infection by invoking
mantras or similar things, creating an impression that there is
ghostly or divine wrath causing physical injuries and preventing a
person from taking medical treatment and instead diverting him to
practice aghori acts or treatment, threatening a person with death or
causing physical pains or causing financial or psychological harm by
practicing or tend to practice mantra-tantra (chetuk), black magic or
aghori act.

10) In the name of jaran maran, karni or witchcraft (chetuk),
assaulting any person, parading him naked, excommunicating or
declaring any person as outcast or to expel a person from society or
put a ban on his activities, declaring such person as possessed by
evil spirit or incarnation.

To appear in the state of complete nakedness in the public place and
misbehaving with women by treating oneself as awaliya baba or baba
with divine power.

This has now been substituted by the following two acts:

By declaring that a particular person practices karni, black magic or
brings under the influence of ghost, or diminishes the milching
capacity of a cattle by mantra tantra, or create suspicion about such
person, or similarly accusing a particular person that he brings
misfortune to others or is responsible for spread of diseases and
thereby making the living of such person miserable, troublesome or
difficult, to declare a person as Satan or incarnation of Satan.

In the name of jaran maran, karni, or witchcraft assaulting any
person, parading him naked or put a ban on his daily activities.

11) To create an impression that insanity has been caused to a person
due to influence of ghost or divine power and to conduct mantra tantra
to cure him by way of sacrifice of hen or goat or any other animal.

Cheating people in the false hope of providing freedom from madness,
offering treatment to patients of serious or terminal illnesses by
offering stones with the powers of mantras, finger ring, bangle,
jogstick or thread, tait, ganda dora, etc, with such false hope.

This has now been replaced by: To create an impression that a mentally
retarded person is having super natural power and utilizing such
person for business or occupation.

The following provisions have also been removed:

Causing disturbance in society in general or creating panic or cause
intimidation by way of chanting Mantra or Tantrik action in the name
of exorcising a ghost or to free a person from the influence of ghost
or evil spirit.

By declaring that Devi, a spirit has influenced one’s body, create
disturbance by shouting and thereby spreading threat and disturbing
the general peace, declaring the names of the persons who has done
karni, etc, thereby making the living of such a person miserable of
difficult, to provide unscientific cure to psycho somatic conditions
such as giving angara, pendant, etc. to the people. Haunting a person
with an influence of ghost by practicing witchcraft which cannot be
proved with the help of modern science. Treating any disease with the
help of mantra tantra without authorized or recognized medical degree
under the law for the time being in force. Threatening a person with
death or causing physical pains or causing financial or psychological
harm by mantra tantra (witchcraft), Black Magic or by practicing
aghori treatment.

Trying to make believe burning of things, vanishing of things,
appearance of cross marks on the body, etc, as effect of bhanamati and
claiming treatment for the same. Claiming to perform miracle by
burying oneself in the ground. Under disguise of offering God’s
blessings, cheating people by way of accepting money or any other
belongings, by unlawful means. In the name of religion, Holy
Scriptures, God and Goddesses, display of false extraordinary powers,
indulgence in free sexual relations, adopting unethical and corrupt
means for cheating and duping people. Compelling women to enter into
prostitution and committing atrocities against them, by cheating them
under blind faith.

The following other provisions have been included:

With a view to receive blessings of super natural power to follow the
evil and aghori practices which cause danger to life or grievous hurt;
and to instigate, encourage or compel others to follow such practices.

Conclusion:

This is a noble effort of the legislators to put an end to the
atrocities being committed in the name of religion. Throwing people in
burning flames to cure people of Chicken Pocks, writing Ram on the
doors of the house to prevent the unholy ghost from entering the house
is becoming increasingly common these days. Although the intentions
are good, as has been seen in the past, not all legislations score
high marks where implementation is concerned. Some fail more so
because people refuse to follow them and because it appears to be
against the customs and traditions of the people. Literacy drives
would have been more appropriate for such a personal subject. No
committee has been put in place under this bill that would go around
educating people about the evil effects of these practices. Another
thing that comes across is that most of the acts named in the bill
would be offences in itself, the only difference is that their
commission under the guise of religious practice would henceforth also
be termed as an offence. Nevertheless, the success of the bill still
remains to be seen.

The author can be reached at :***@legalserviceindia.com

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/statl.htm

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Constitution Discussion Forum

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Written By : Deepika Bansal - Student Law

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of the land, which is
fundamental in the governance of India. The Constitution of India was
enacted on 26th November, 1949 and was adopted on 26th January, 1950.
The Draftsmen of the Indian Constitution took inspiration from
Constitutions all over the world and incorporated their attributes
into the Indian Constitution. For example Part III on Fundamental
Rights is partly derived from the American Constitution and Part 1V on
Directive Principles of State Policy from the Irish Constitution.

A Constitution should be a dynamic document. It should be able to
adapt itself to the changing needs of the society. Sometimes under the
impact of new powerful social and economic forces, the pattern of
government will require major changes. Keeping this factor in mind the
Draftsmen of the Indian Constitution incorporated Article 368 in the
Constitution which dealt with the procedure of amendment. Due to
Article 368 the Indian Constitution can neither be called rigid nor
flexible but in fact it is partly rigid and partly flexible. Articles
of the Indian Constitution can be amended by a simple majority in the
Parliament (Second Schedule, Article 100(3), 105, 11, 124, 135, 81,
137), or by special majority that is majority of the total membership
of each house and by majority of not less than two thirds of the
members of each house present and voting , or by Ratification by the
State Legislatures after special majority (Article 57, 73, 162,
Chapter 1V of Part V, Chapter V of P!
art V1, Seventh Schedule, representation of the State in Parliament
and provisions dealing with amendment of the Constitution).

During the 50 years of the Constitution, more than 80 amendments have
taken place. The founding fathers of the Indian constitution who
granted more rights to the people without balancing them with their
duties, perhaps did not foresee the emergence of present political
environment, wherein the political players of various segments in the
country are more interested in fulfilling their individual aspirations
than the aspirations of the people. There is an element of truth in
this
criticism. The fact is that the ease in the amending process of the
Indian Constitution is due to the one party dominance both at the
Centre and the State .Yet, on close examination it will be seen that
there were compelling circumstances which led to the constitutional
amendments. While some amendments were a natural product of the
eventual evolution of the new political system established under the
Constitution in 1950, there were others necessitated by practical
difficulties. The first amendment! took place in June, 1950.

The question whether Fundamental Rights can be amended under Article
368 came for consideration of the Supreme Court in Shankari Prasad v.
Union of India . It challenged the validity of the 1st amendent to the
Constitution. In this case it was held that a constitution amendment
will also be held valid even it abridges or takes away any of the
fundamental rights. A similar decision was given my the honble Supreme
Court in Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan which challenged the
validity of the 17th amendent. In Golaknath v. State of Punjab , the
validity of the Constitution (17th Amendment) Act, 1964 was again
challenged, which inserted certain State Acts in Ninth Schedule. The
Supreme Court in its landmark decision overruled the decision given in
the Shankari Prasads and Sajjan Singhs case. It held that the
Parliament had no power from the date of this decision to amend Part
III of the Constitution so as to take away or abridge the Fundamental
rights. Eleven judges participated in this decision with the ratio
being 6 : 5. The judges were worried about the numerous amendments
made to abridge the fundamental rights since 1950. It apprehended that
if the courts were to hold that the Parliament had power to take away
fundamental rights, a time might come when these rights are completely
eroded. The Chief Justice applied the doctrine of Prospective
Overruling and held that this decision will have only prospective
operation and, therefore, the 1st, 4th and 17th amendment will conti!
nue to be valid.

It means that all cases decided before the Golaknaths case shall
remain valid. In order to remove difficulties created by Golaknaths
decision parliament enacted the 24th Amendment.

The amendment has made the following amendments :

(1) it added a new clause (4) to Article 13 which provides that
nothing in this Article shall apply to any amendment of this
constitution made under Article 368 .

(2) it submitted a new heading to Article 368 power of Parliament to
amend the Constitution and Procedure therefore. Instead of Procedure
for amendment of the Constitution.

(3) It inserted a new sub section (1) in Article 368 which provides
that notwithstanding anything in the Constitution, Parliament may, in
exercise of its constituent power may amend by way of addition,
variation, or repeal any provision of this Constitution in accordance
with the procedure laid down in the Article. Thus the 24th amendment
restored the amending power of the Parliament. The validity of the
24th amendment was challenged in the case of Keshavnand Bharati v.
State of Kerala . It challenged the validity of the Kerala Reforms
Act, 1963. but during the pendency of the petition the Kerala Act was
placed in the Ninth Schedule by the 29th Amendment. The question
involved was the extent of the amending power conferred by Article 368
of the Constitution. A Special bench of 13 judges was constituted to
hear the case. The Court by majority overruled the Golaknaths case
which denied Parliament the power to amend fundamental rights of
citizens. It held that the 24th amendment merely made explicit which
was implicit in the unamended Article 368. The Court held that under
the Article 368 Parliament is not empowered to amend the basic
structure or framework of the Constitution. After the decisions of the
Supreme Court in Keshavnand Bharati and Indira Gandhi cases the
Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976, was passed which added two
new clauses , namely, clauses (4) provided that no constitutional
amendment (including the provision of Part III) or purporting to have
been made under Article 368 whether before or after the commencement
of the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 shall be called in any
court on any ground. Clause (5) removed any doubts about the scope of
the amending power. It declared that there shall be no limitation
whatever on the constituent power of Parliament to amend by way of
addition ,variation or repeal of the provisions of the Constitution
under this Article. Thus by inserting this clause it was made clear
that the basic structure of the Constitution could be amended. In
Minerva Mills v. Union of India the Supreme Court by 4 to 1 majority
struck down clauses (4) and (5) of Article 368 inserted by the 42nd
amendment, on the ground that these clauses destroyed the essential
feature of the basic structure of the Constitution. Since these
clauses removed all limitations on the amending power and thereby!
conferred an unlimited amending power, it was destructive of the basic
structure of the Constitution. The judgment of the Supreme Court thus
makes it clear that the Constitution not the Parliament is supreme in
India. The Parliament owes its existence to the Constitution and it
cannot take priority over the Constitution. Therefore this landmark
decision ended the long controversy between the Courts and the
Executive.

The amendment process was incorporated in the Constitution by the
Draftsmen of the Constitution to help India adapt itself to the
changing circumstances. Society is never stagnant. It is ever-
changing. Therefore the amending procedure was made partly flexible so
as to make it easy for the Legislature. But the Parliament started
thinking that it has unlimited amending power. It assumed itself to be
the supreme law when the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
The Parliament started making amendments which were destroying the
basic structure of the Indian Constitution. But after the landmark
decisions of Keshavnand Bharati and Minerva Mills the Court by its
power of judicial review has curtailed the amending power of the
Parliament. The amendments made by the Parliament can no more affect
the basic structure of the Constitution. But, looking at the ease with
amendments can take place depending on the whims and fancies of the
ruling government and the POLITICS IN THE POLITICS OF INDIA we cannot
say how long the rights of the citizens are safe and unobstructed.

http://www.legalservicesindia.com/articles/pol.htm

Written By : Sachin Mehta

On 26 March 2002, the controversial anti-terror law, the Prevention of
Terrorism Act (POTA) was passed with 425 votes for the Act and 296
against, after a 10-hour debate in the parliament. The intensity of
the effects of the bill could be seen very clearly by the rejection of
the bill by the upper house of the Indian Parliament leading to a
Joint Session of Parliament, a measure that had taken place only the
third time in the past. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs justified
the initial Ordinance after the September 11,2001 terror attacks by
claiming an upsurge of terrorist activities, intensification of cross
border terrorism, and insurgent groups in different parts of the
country, despite the fact that the state of Jammu and Kashmir
witnessed a decrease in the terrorist incidents taking place in that
state.

POTA, though now has been repealed, lives as an example showing the
bold step taken by India in its fight against terrorism. The POTA had
during its days and even after its downfall, has made India a silent
spectator to serous ongoing debates between political parties, the
media, social activists and NGOs on certain provisions seen to be
draconian, within POTA.

Two years from the enactment of the POTA, a number of issues as to the
possibilities of misuse of the provisions of the anti terror law
including the targeting of minorities and using it against political
opponents had arisen. In Gujarat, all except one of the POTA detainees
are from the Muslim minority and in Tamil Nadu and UP too the
ostensible anti-terror law has been abused to book, without lucidity
and accountability, political opponents and underprivileged
communities respectively.

A decade long experience with a previous national anti-terror law, the
infamous Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention (TADA) that
was in force between 1985-1995 gives legitimacy to the fear that the
misuse of such laws evoke among human rights activists, political
dissenters and minorities. Under the TADA, the conviction rate was
less than 1%, despite the fact that the confessions made to the
police, even though being given under torture, were admissible as
evidence.

The developments after the enactment of the POTA, including the
responses received by the POTA review committee show that the POTA is
worse then TADA. POTA provides for criminal liability for mere
association or communication with suspected terrorists without the
possession of criminal intent (Section 3(5) of the POTA). Section 4 of
POTA is similar to Section 5 of TADA in laying out a legal presumption
that if a person is found in unauthorized possession of arms in a
notified area, he/she is automatically linked with terrorist activity.
Section 48(2) provides for the option of pre-trial police detention
for up to 180 days. As under the TADA, where 98% of the cases never
reached the trial stage, this Section 48(2) could also be misused by
the police by keeping an accused for long periods of detention without
charge or trial. Special courts for trials are established under POTA
which are given the discretion to hold trials in non-public places,
like prisons, and to withhold ! trial records from public scrutiny,
thus preventing the independent monitoring of special court sessions.
Section 32 provides that confessions made to police officers are to be
admissible in trial, which has increased the possibility of coercion
and torture in securing confessions.

The provisions contained under the POTA were mostly contained in
existing laws, except those, which were contained in the Criminal
Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, the Evidence Act or the
Constitution of India. The Act effectively undermines the fundamental
tenet of the criminal justice system by putting the burden of proof on
the accused. But the Act also had some provisions, which were not
attacked for being against human rights. These provisions stated that
Confessions must be recorded within 48 hours before a magistrate, who
will send the accused for a medical examination if there is a
complaint of torture. Further a legal representative of the accused
can be present for part of the interrogation. Moreover police officers
can be prosecuted for abusing their authority. The POTA also provided
that victims could be paid compensation.

But these provisions could not act as an effective shield to protect
the Act from the criticism it received for its other provisions
abusing human rights. Those opposed to POTA had argued that existing
laws were sufficient to deal with terrorism. Within a year POTA had
already built up a dubious record and in some states it was already
dreaded as its predecessor. State governments, including opposition-
ruled ones, had not hesitated to use POTA to fix political opponents.

At the Peoples Tribunal on POTA and Other Security Legislation at the
Press Club in New Delhi on July 16,2004 a 629-page report based on
depositions made before the Tribunal by victims and their families
from ten states in India, as well as expert depositions by lawyers and
activists, showed that such security legislations grant sweeping
powers to authorities, which has led to misuse of these powers and
severe restriction of basic rights. At the same time, such
legislations do not address the political, social and economic roots
of the problem.

The tribunal concluded that the review of victim and expert testimony
showed that the misuse of the Act is inseparable from its normal use.
The tribunal stated that the statute meant to terrorise not so much
the terrorists as ordinary civiliansand particularly the poor and
disadvantaged such as dalits, religious minorities, adivasis, and
working people. Thus the tribunal recommended that POTA be repealed
and that too in such a manner that the POTA charges are deleted from
all existing investigations and trials. But, if the state so desires,
these may continue under other laws and charges.

Finally on September 17, 2004 the Union Cabinet in keeping with the
UPA government's Common Minimum Programme, approved ordinances to
repeal the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) and
amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Home Minister
Shivraj Patil said that the government would provide a sunset period
of one year during which all cases pertaining to POTA would be
reviewed by the Central POTA Review Committee. He added, There would
be no arrests made after the ordinance is promulgated. To fill the
lacuna that have been created due to the repeal of the Act, adequate
amendments were being brought to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, 1967 to define a terrorist act and provide for banning of
terrorist organisations and their support systems, including funding
of terrorism, attachment and forfeiture of proceeds of terrorism, etc.
All terrorist organisations banned under POTA would continue to remain
banned, under the Unlawful Activities Act, after the repeal of the
Act. Some of the clauses contained in POTA, which will be completely
dropped in the amended Unlawful Activities Act, are: the onus on the
accused to prove his innocence, compulsory denial of bail to accused
and admission as evidence in the court of law the confession made by
the accused before the police officer.

The BJP government has slammed the Cabinet decision to repeal POTA as
politically motivated and compromising of the essentials of national
security. BJP spokesperson and former Law Minister Arun Jaitley said
if the amendments brought out under the existing laws after the repeal
of POTA are found to be inadequate, the BJP-ruled states would be
asked to come out with their own legislations filling up the lacuna.
But till such a step is taken many innocent victims of the POTA can
take a sign of relief and thank their stars that the reign of terror
under the stringent anti terror law POTA has come to an end.

http://www.legalservicesindia.com/articles/pota.htm

Written By : Sandeep Pathak, III year B.B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) National Law
University, Jodhpur

Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (herein after referred as
Olga Tellis) was decided in 1985 by the five Judges Bench of the
Supreme Court of India. The Hon'ble bench comprised of C.J., Y.V.
Chandrachud, J., A.V. Varadarajan, J., O. Chinnappa Reddy, J., S.
Murtaza Fazal Ali and J., V.D. Tulzapurkar. This case came before the
Supreme Court as a writ petition by persons who live on pavements and
in slums in the city of Bombay. It was prayed by the petitioners to
allow them to stay on the pavements against their order of eviction.
The majority judgment (concurring by all the five Judges) was
delivered by Hon'ble Chief Justice Y.V.Chandrachud.

Factual Score of Olga Tellis

The writ petitions were filed by the slum dwellers and pavement
dwellers before the Supreme Court of India. This class of people
constituted nearly half the population of the city of Bombay. The
respondents - State of Maharashtra and Bombay Municipal Corporation
took a decision that all pavement dwellers and the slum or bust
dwellers in the city of Bombay will be evicted forcibly and deported
to their respective places of origin or removed to places outside the
city of Bombay section 314 of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act,
1888. Pursuant to that decision, the pavement dwellings of some of the
petitioners were in fact demolished by the Bombay Municipal
Corporation. The petitioners challenge the order of the Bombay
Municipal Corporation of eviction as being unreasonable and unjust
without providing with alternative living facility. The petitioners
claimed right to livelihood as a part of their right under Article 21
of the Constitution that is right to life under Article 32. Moreover,
petitioners contended that sections 312, 313 and 314 of the Bombay
Municipal Corporation Act are invalid as violating Articles 14, 19 and
21.

Issues Considered by the Apex Court

1. That the order for the eviction of the pavement is the infringement
of their right to livelihood and in turn the encroachment over their
right guaranteed under article 21 of the Constitution.
2. That the impugned action of the State Government and the Bombay
Municipal Corporation is violative of the provisions contained in
Article 19(1) (3), 19(1) (g) and 21 of the Constitution.
3. That the procedure prescribed by section 314 of the Bombay
Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 for the removal of encroachments from
pavements is arbitrary and unreasonable.

Decision of Supreme Court

The decision of the Supreme Court in this case was based on the
humanistic approach of the judges and the Apex Court stepped into the
activist role. The Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the slum dwellers
must get the alternative shelter if they are evicted from the
pavements.Although, the eviction orders were held to be valid under
article 14 and 19 of the Constitution. Infact, the right to life was
once again enlarged to engulf the right to livelihood as being a part
of liberty of an individual. The decision of the Court also focused on
the concept of the welfare state and reliance though not expressly but
impliedly was placed on the Directive Principles of the State Policies
under the Constitution.

Rationale, Reason and Jurisprudence of Olga Tellis

The decision of this case essentially falls back on the premise of the
positivism. The judgment delivered by C.J., YV.Chandrachud is solely
based on the concept of the analytical positivism of Britain. The
letter of law was considered to be paramount. The Supreme Court
focused on both the premises, that is, reformation and superiority of
the law. In Para 28, Justice Chandrachud took the approach propounded
by Hans Kelson, where he considers constitution as a highest norm or
the Grundnorm. According to Kelson, Grundnorm is the basic norm which
determines the content and gives validity to other norms derived from
it. On this basis, Justice Chandrachud, observes in Para 28 that,

There can be no estoppel against the Constitution. The Constitution is
not only the paramount law of the land but, it is the source and
sustenance of all laws. Its provisions are conceived in public
interest and are intended to serve public purpose.

Furthermore, it is the theory of the "Father of the English
Jurisprudence" - Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) that was reiterated by
the Apex Court in true sense. Bentham talked about the reform of the
substantive law by the way of reforming the structure of law.

1. Law in the Reformative Process

This case can be said to be a decision that leads to the reformation
of the substantive law. Bentham divided the jurisprudence into two
parts, that is, expositorial (what law is) and censorial (what law
ought to be) .Olga Tellis has shifted the focus from censorial
jurisprudence to the expositorial jurisprudence by enlarging the scope
of article 21 of the Constitution and including right to livelihood
and right to shelter as a part of right to life. Justice Chandrachud
in Para 32 of his judgment states,

An equally important facet of that right is the right to livelihood
because, no person can live without the means of living, that is, the
means of livelihood. If the right to livelihood is not treated as a
part of the constitutional right to life, the easiest way of depriving
a person of his right to life would be to deprive him of his means of
livelihood to the point of abrogation.

This view of the Hon'ble Court clearly indicates the follow up of the
Bentam's philosophy of reforming the law through its structure. The
law as defined by Bentham is, an assemblage of signs, declarative of
violation, conceived or adopted by the sovereign in a state,
concerning the conduct to be observed in a certain case by a certain
person or class of persons, who in the case in question are or are
supposed to be subject to his power .Therefore, this although focuses
on the aspect that law is certain and laid down that is, positum, but
at the same time this definition is flexible enough to be cover a set
of objectives so intimately allied and to which there would be such
continual occasion to apply the same proposition . Therefore in the
present case when Justice Chandrachud states that ,"no person can live
without means of living" ,he is applying the Bentamite jurisprudence
to reform the law laid down under article 21 and at the same time also
utilizing the flexibility of his definition of law to equate the
intimately allied occasions of life, liberty and livelihood.

2. Hedonist Utilitarianism

Olga Tellis brought the concept of Benthamite philosophy of the
Hedonist Utilitarianism. Justice Chandrachud in Para 1 states that the
petitioners form almost half the population of the city. The fact of
such a large number of pavement dwellers in question caused the
decision to fall in their favour.The principle of utility by Bentham
stated that, out of various possibilities in a given case, one must
choose that option that gives the greatest happiness to the greatest
number .
The Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 laid down the law relating
to the pavement dwellers under section 312-314. It stated many
prohibitions on the housing and depositions of various items on the
pavements by the dwellers. Justice Chandrachud while deciding this
case entirely followed the PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY as given by Bentham
and held that the end aim of the legislator should be HAPPINESS of the
people and the GENERAL UTILITY must be the guiding principle. Apex
Court by making a balance sheet between the happiness or the utility
of the slum dwellers with the aim and object of the particular
legislation came to a conclusion that justice must be done only by
giving the redressal to the poor and needy pavement dwellers. Justice
Chandarchud in Para 49 states that,

Hearing to be given to trespassers who have encroached on public
properties? To persons who commit crime? There is no doubt that the
petitioners are using pavements and other public properties for an
unauthorised purpose. But, their intention or object in doing so is
not to "commit an offence or intimidate, insult or annoy any person",
which is the gist of the offence of 'Criminal trespass' under Section
441 of the Penal Code. They manage to find a habitat in places which
are mostly filthy or marshy, out of sheet helplessness. It is not as
if they have a free choice to exercise as to whether to commit an
encroachment and if so, where. The encroachments committed by these
persons are involuntary acts in the sense that those acts are
compelled by inevitable circumstances and are not guided by choice.
Here, as elsewhere in the law of Torts, a balance has to be struck
between competing sets of values.....

Therefore, the Apex Court had drawn a balance sheet and analysed the
Happiness and utility of the petitioners and the respondents. The
Court relied upon the Pelican book in Para 56 and states,

Malnourished babies, wasted mothers, emaciated corpses in the streets
of Asia have definite and definable reasons for existing. Hunger may
have been the human race's constant companion, and 'the poor may
always be with us', but in the twentieth century, one cannot take this
fatalistic view of the destiny of millions of fellow creatures. Their
condition is not inevitable but is caused by identifiable forces
within the province of rational human control.

In the above-mentioned finding by the Hon'ble Supreme Court it is
evidently clear that the reliance was placed on the "destiny of
millions of fellow creatures". It signifies the application of the
Bentham principle of utility in the outcome of the judgment of Olga
Tellis.

Bentham's justification of his utilitarianism is founded upon four
propositions. These are as follows,

1. All agents (as agents) seek a personal good.

2. Ultimately, all self-conscious agents aim at the same goal
(irrespective of the particular context in which the particular action
is performed).

3. That same ultimate goal is always the maximization of personal
pleasure (and the avoidance of personal pain).

4. The proper role of the state is to promote the greatest aggregate
pleasure within its community.

The four commands of utility for civic society in the Bentham's
Utilitarianism, upon which the aggregate happiness depends are
security, subsistence, abundance and equality. Out of the above,
security was the most important. Subsistence, abundance and equality,
however, all depended, in Bentham's view, on the paramount directive
of security. The decision given by the Supreme Court heavily relies on
the entire four propositions given by Bentham (above-mentioned).
Justice Chandrachud in the Para 2 of the judgment lays down the
emphasis on the slum dwellers right to life and reside in any part of
the country with dignity as other citizens of the nation. He stated
that an individual can live without security but cannot live without
"subsistence" the Supreme Court in the instant case holding that the
Right to livelihood and shelter as being an important component of the
Right to Life again establishes a nexus between subsistence and right
to livelihood once again confirming the abidance of the Benthamite
principle of utility. Moreover when the court established that if the
petitioners were evicted from their dwellings, they would be deprived
of their livelihood.

The due recognition is given to the fact that the number of the
pavement dwellers was huge and it constituted almost half of the
city's population. Therefore, the test greatest aggregate happiness
for the greatest number is also fulfilled. According to Jullias
Stone , by happiness of the community Bentham meant simply the
aggregate of individual surpluses of pleasure over pain. The greatest
happiness of the greatest number states that the pleasure and the
pains of the society are to be weighed at same plane. In this case
also the pleasure of the society was upheld and also the pain of
another section of the society (slum dwellers) was brought down.
Then Bentham's principle of utility becomes the principle that we are
always to act in such a way as to give as many people as possible as
much as possible of whatever it is that they want. I think that the
interpretation in Olga Tellis preserves the essence of Bentham's
doctrine, and it has the advantage of making it independent of any
special psychological theory.

Conclusion

To conclude, the whole Benthamite principle applied by Justice
Chandrachud on behalf of all the brother Justices can be summarized in
one sentence stated in Para 46 of the judgment, Human compassion
(happiness) must soften the rough edges of justice in all situations.
Thus, it can be concluded the Supreme Court adopted the Utilitarian
Principle in terms of the pleasure and pain calculus or the hedonistic
calculus of Jermy Betham.

Authored by Sandeep Pathak and can be reached at :
***@rediffmail.com

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/case.htm

"Uniform Civil Code"

Written By : Gauri Kulkarni - Vth year law - Symbiosis Society's law
college, Pune

Introduction:

The mere three words and the nation breaks into hysterical jubilation
and frantic wailing. These three words are enough to divide the nation
into two categories - politically, socially and religiously.
Politically, the nation is divided as BJP, which propagates
implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (hereinafter referred to as
the UCC) and the non BJP including the Congress party, Samajwadi
party, who are against the implementation of the UCC. Socially, the
intelligentsia of the country, who analyse logically the pros and cons
of the UCC and the illiterate who have no opinion of their own and
succumb to the political pressure are at opposite poles. And,
religiously, there is a dangerous widening schism between the majority
Hindus and the minority community mostly the Muslims. Being a law
student, I would like to consider the legal implications of UCC.

I strongly support the crusade for the implementation of UCC and
homogenising the personal laws. I support it, not because of any bias,
but because it is the need of the hour. It is high time that India had
a uniform law dealing with marriage, divorce, succession, inheritance
and maintenance.

Indian case law:

Recently, the Supreme Court of India again called for a UCC. The
Supreme Court first directed the Parliament to frame a UCC in the year
1985 in the case of Mohammad Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum[1],
popularly known as the Shah Bano case. In this case, a penurious
Muslim woman claimed for maintenance from her husband under Section
125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure[2] after she was given triple
talaq from him. The Supreme Court held that the Muslim woman have a
right to get maintenance from her husband under Section 125. The Court
also held that Article 44[3] of the Constitution has remained a dead
letter. The then Chief Justice of India Y.V. Chandrachud observed
that,

"A common civil code will help the cause of national integration by
removing disparate loyalties to law which have conflicting ideologies"

After this decision, nationwide discussions, meetings, and agitation
were held. The then Rajiv Gandhi led Government overturned the Shah
Bano case decision by way of Muslim Women (Right to Protection on
Divorce) Act, 1986 which curtailed the right of a Muslim woman for
maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The
explanation given for implementing this Act was that the Supreme Court
had merely made an observation for enacting the UCC, not binding on
the government or the Parliament and that there should be no
interference with the personal laws unless the demand comes from
within.

The second instance in which the Supreme Court again directed the
government of Article 44 was in the case of Sarla Mudgal v. Union of
India[4]. In this case, the question was whether a Hindu husband,
married under the Hindu law, by embracing Islam, can solemnise second
marriage The Court held that a Hindu marriage solemnised under the
Hindu law can only be dissolved on any of the grounds specified under
the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Conversion to Islam and Marrying again
would not, by itself, dissolve the Hindu marriage under the Act. And,
thus, a second marriage solemnised after converting to Islam would be
an offence under Section 494[5] of the Indian Penal Code.

Justice Kuldip Singh also opined that Article 44 has to be retrieved
from the cold storage where it is lying since 1949. The Hon’ble
Justice referred to the codification of the Hindu personal law and
held,

"Where more then 80 percent of the citizens have already been brought
under the codified personal law there is no justification whatsoever
to keep in abeyance, any more, the introduction of the ‘uniform civil
code’ for all the citizens in the territory of India."

The Supreme Court’s latest reminder to the government of its
Constitutional obligations to enact a UCC came in July 2003[6] when a
Christian priest knocked the doors of the Court challenging the
Constitutional validity of Section 118[7] of the Indian Succession
Act. The priest from Kerala, John Vallamatton filed a writ petition in
the year 1997 stating that Section 118 of the said Act was
discriminatory against the Christians as it impose unreasonable
restrictions on their donation of property for religious or charitable
purpose by will. The bench comprising of Chief Justice of India V.N.
Khare, Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice A.R. Lakshamanan struck down the
Section declaring it to be unconstitutional. Chief Justice Khare
stated that,

"We would like to State that Article 44 provides that the State shall
endeavour to secure for all citizens a uniform civil code throughout
the territory of India It is a matter of great regrets that Article 44
of the Constitution has not been given effect to. Parliament is still
to step in for framing a common civil code in the country. A common
civil code will help the cause of national integration by removing the
contradictions based on ideologies."

Thus, as seen above, the apex court has on several instances directed
the government to realise the directive principle enshrined in our
Constitution and the urgency to do so can be inferred from the same.

Secularism v/s UCC:

The spine of controversy revolving around UCC has been secularism and
the freedom of religion enumerated in the Constitution of India. The
preamble of the Constitution states that India is a "secular
democratic republic" This means that there is no State religion. A
secular State shall not discriminate against anyone on the ground of
religion. A State is only concerned with the relation between man and
man. It is not concerned with the relation of man with God. It does
not mean allowing all religions to be practiced. It means that
religion should not interfere with the mundane life of an individual.

In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India[8], as per Justice Jeevan Reddy, it
was held that religion is the matter of individual faith and cannot be
mixed with secular activities. Secular activities can be regulated by
the State by enacting a law.

In India, there exist a concept of "positive secularism" as
distinguished from doctrine of secularism accepted by America and some
European states i.e. there is a wall of separation between religion
and State. In India, positive secularism separates spiritualism with
individual faith. The reason is that America and the European
countries went through the stages of renaissance, reformation and
enlightenment and thus they can enact a law stating that State shall
not interfere with religion. On the contrary, India has not gone
through these stages and thus the responsibility lies on the State to
interfere in the matters of religion so as to remove the impediments
in the governance of the State.

Articles 25[9] and 26[10] guarantee right to freedom of religion.
Article 25 guarantees to every person the freedom of conscience and
the right to profess, practice and propagate religion. But this right
is subject to public order, morality and health and to the other
provisions of Part III of the Constitution. Article 25 also empowers
the State to regulate or restrict any economic, financial, political
or other secular activity, which may be associated with religious
practice and also to provide for social welfare and reforms. The
protection of Articles 25 and 26 is not limited to matters of doctrine
of belief. It extends to acts done in pursuance of religion and,
therefore, contains a guarantee for ritual and observations,
ceremonies and modes of worship, which are the integral parts of
religion.[11]

UCC is not opposed to secularism or will not violate Article 25 and
26. Article 44 is based on the concept that there is no necessary
connection between religion and personal law in a civilised society.
Marriage, succession and like matters are of secular nature and,
therefore, law can regulate them. No religion permits deliberate
distortion[12]. The UCC will not and shall not result in interference
of one’s religious beliefs relating, mainly to maintenance, succession
and inheritance. This means that under the UCC a Hindu will not be
compelled to perform a nikah or a Muslim be forced to carry out
saptapadi. But in matters of inheritance, right to property,
maintenance and succession, there will be a common law.

Justice Khare, in the recent case[13], said,
"It is no matter of doubt that marriage, succession and the like
matters of secular character cannot be brought within the guarantee
enshrined under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution."

The Chief Justice also cautioned that any legislations which brought
succession and like matters of secular character within the ambit of
Articles 25 and 26 is a suspect legislation. Article 25 confers right
to practice and profess religion, while Article 44 divests religion
from social relations and personal law.

The whole debate can be summed up by the judgement given by Justice
R.M. Sahai. He said,

"Ours is a secular democratic republic. Freedom of religion is the
core of our culture. Even the slightest of deviation shakes the social
fibre. But religious practices, violative of human rights and dignity
and sacerdotal suffocation of essentially civil and material freedoms
are not autonomy but oppression. Therefore, a unified code is
imperative, both, for protection of the oppressed and for promotion of
national unity and solidarity."[14]

Codification:

The biggest obstacle in implementing the UCC, apart from obtaining a
consensus, is the drafting. Should UCC be a blend of all the personal
laws or should it be a new law adhering to the constitutional mandate?
There is a lot of literature churned out on UCC but there is no model
law drafted. Many think that under the guise of UCC, the Hindu law
will be imposed on all. The possibility of UCC being only a repackaged
Hindu law was ruled out by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he
said that there will be a new code based on gender equality and
comprising the best elements in all the personal laws.

The UCC should carve a balance between protection of fundamental
rights and religious dogmas of individuals. It should be a code, which
is just and proper according to a man of ordinary prudence, without
any bias with regards to religious or political considerations.
Here is an overview of the essentials of the UCC:

Marriage and divorce:

The personal laws of each religion contain different essentials of a
valid marriage. The new code should have the basic essentials of valid
marriage which shall include:

(i) The new code should impose monogamy banning multiple marriages
under any religion. Polygamy discriminates against the women and
violates their basic human rights. Thus, monogamy should be imposed,
not because it is the Hindu law, but because it adheres to Article 21
of the Constitution[15] and basic human values.

(ii) The minimum age limit for a male should be 21 years and for a
female should be 18 years. This would help in curbing child marriages.
Punishment should be prescribed for any person violating this
provision. Also, punishment for other persons involved in such an act,
like the relatives, should be prescribed which would have a deterrent
effect on the society.

(iii) Registration of marriage should be made compulsory. A valid
marriage will be said to have solemnised when the man and the woman
sign their declaration of eligibility before a registrar. This will do
away with all the confusion regarding the validity of the marriage.

(iv) The grounds and procedure for divorce should be specifically laid
down. The grounds enumerated in the code should be reasonable and the
procedure prescribed should be according to the principles of natural
justice. Also, there should be a provision for divorce by mutual
consent.

Succession and inheritance: This area throws up even more intractable
problems. In Hindu law, there is a distinction between a joint family
property and self acquired property which is not so under the Muslim
law. The Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), formed under the Hindu law, run
businesses and own agricultural lands. Under the UCC, this institution
of HUF, peculiar to the Hindus, has to be abolished. There are also
fetters imposed on the extent to which one can bequeath property by
will under the Muslim law. Considering all these, the UCC should
include:

(i) Equal shares to son and daughter from the property of the father,
whether self acquired or joint family property. There should be no
discrimination based on sex in the matters of inheritance. The
provisions of the Hindu Succession (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 1994
can be taken as guiding principles wherein the daughter of a
coparcener shall by birth become the coparcener in her own right in
the same manner as a son and have the same rights in the coparcenary
property as she would have had if she had been a son, inclusive the
right to claim by survivorship and shall be subject to same
liabilities and disabilities as the son.

(ii) Provisions for inheritance of the property of mother, which she
has self acquired or acquired through her father or relatives.

(iii) The provisions relating to will should be in consonance with the
principles of equity. There should be no limitations imposed on the
extent to which the property can be bequeathed, the persons to whom
such property can be bequeath and the donation of the property by will
for religious and charitable purpose.

(iv) The essentials of valid will, the procedure for registration and
execution of the will should be provided for.

(v) Provisions for gifts should not contain any limitations, though
essential of valid gift and gift deed should be specified.

Maintenance: The maintenance laws for the Hindus and Muslims are very
different. Apart from personal laws, a non-Muslim woman can claim
maintenance under Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure. A Muslim
woman can claim maintenance under the Muslim Women (Right to
Protection on Divorce) Act, 1986. Apart from maintenance of wife,
there are also provisions for maintenance of mother, father, son and
unmarried daughter under the Hindu law. The UCC should contain the
following with regards to maintenance:

(i) A husband should maintain the wife during the marriage and also
after they have divorced till the wife remarries.

(ii) The amount of alimony should be decided on basis of the income of
the husband, the status and the lifestyle of the wife.

(iii) The son and daughter should be equally responsible to maintain
the parents. The reason for this being that if she claims equal share
of the property of her parents, she should share the duty to maintain
her parents equally.

(iv) The parents should maintain their children - son till he is
capable of earning on his own and daughter, till she gets married.

Thus based on these fundamental principles, an unbiased and fair UCC
can be framed which will be in consonance with the Constitution.

Working of UCC and the Indian scenario:

How foolproof will be the UCC? Will there be more abuse and less
obedience of UCC? Will UCC have negative effect on the society? Such
questions are bound to be raised after the implementation of the UCC.
All laws are formulated to be obeyed, but they are abused. This
doesnot mean that law should not be implemented. Similarly, there is a
great possibility of the UCC being abused, but this should not eschew
the Parliament from enacting the UCC; the social welfare and benefits
resulting from the implementation of UCC are far greater.

While explaining the reason for including Article 44 in the Directives
Principles, it was observed,

"When you want to consolidate a community, you have to take into
consideration the benefits which may accrue to the whole community and
not to the customs of a part of it. If you look at the countries in
Europe, which have a Civil Code, everyone who goes there forms a part
of the world and every minority has to submit to that Civil Code. It
is not felt to be tyrannical to the minorities."[16]

Some legal experts argue that progressive law is welcomed but a
suitable atmosphere must be created in which all sections feel secure
enough to sit together and cull out the most progressive of their
personal laws. But this can be answered by an example of Hindu law.
When the Hindu Code Bill, which covers Buddhist, Sikhs, Jains as well
as different religious denominations of Hindus, was notified, there
was a lot of protest. And the then Law Minister, Dr. Ambedkar, had
said that for India’s unity, the country needs a codified law. In a
similar fashion, the UCC can be implemented, which will cover all the
religions, whether major or minor, practiced in India and any person
who comes to India has to abide by the Code.

Not many know that a UCC exists in the small state of Goa accepted by
all communities. The Goa Civil Code collectively called Family Laws,
was framed and enforced by the Portuguese colonial rulers through
various legislations in the 19th and 20th centuries. After the
liberation of Goa in 1961, the Indian State scrapped all the colonial
laws and extended the central laws to the territory but made the
exception of retaining the Family Laws because all the communities in
Goa wanted it. The most significant provision in this law is the pre
nuptial Public Deed regarding the disposal of immovable and movable
property in the event of divorce or death. During matrimony, both
parents have a common right over the estate, but on dissolution, the
property has to be divided equally; son and daughters have the equal
right on the property. As the procedure involves compulsory
registration of marriage, this effectively checks child and bigamous
marriage.

The philosophy behind the Portuguese Civil Code was to strengthen the
family as the backbone of society by inculcating a spirit of tolerance
between husband and wife and providing for inbuilt safeguard against
injustice by one spouse against the other.

Commenting that the dream of a UCC in the country finds its
realisation in Goa, former Chief Justice of India Y.V. Chandrachud had
once expressed hope that it would one day "awaken the rest of bigoted
India."[17]

Conclusion:

The section of the nation against the implementation of UCC contends
that in ideal times, in an ideal State, a UCC would be an ideal
safeguard of citizens’ rights. But India has moved much further from
ideal than when the Constitution was written 50 years ago.

But to conclude, I would like to say that citizens belonging to
different religions and denominations follow different property and
matrimonial laws which is not only an affront to the nation’s unity,
but also makes one wonder whether we are a sovereign secular republic
or a loose confederation of feudal states, where people live at the
whims and fancies of mullahs, bishops and pundits.

[1] AIR 1985 SC 945

[2] "(1) If any person having a sufficient means neglects or refuses
to maintain- a) his wife, unable to maintain herself, or b) his
legitimate or illegitimate minor child, whether married or not, unable
to maintain itself, or c) His legitimate or illegitimate child (not
being a married daughter) who has attained majority, where such child
is, by reason of any physical or mental abnormality or injury unable
to maintain itself, or d) his father or mother, unable to maintain
himself or herself, a magistrate of the first class may, upon proof of
such neglect or refusal, order such person to make a monthly allowance
for the maintenance of his wife or such child, father or mother, at
such monthly rate not exceeding five hundred rupees in the whole, as
such Magistrate thinks fit, and to pay the same to such person as the
Magistrate mat from time to time direct: Provided that the Magistrate
may order the father of a minor female child refereed to in clause (b)
to make such allowance, until she attains her majority, if the
Magistrate is satisfied that the husband of such minor female child,
if married, is not possessed of sufficient means."

[3] "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform
civil code throughout the territory of India."

[4] AIR 1995 SC 153

[5] "Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in
which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the
life of such husband or wife, shall be punished with imprisonment of
either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and
shall also be liable to fine."

[6] John Vallamattom v. Union of India AIR 2003 SC 2902

[7] "No man having a nephew or a niece or any nearer relative shall
have power to bequeath any property to religious or charitable uses,
except by a Will executed not less than twelve months before his
death, and deposited within six months from its execution in some
place provided by law for sak\fe custody of the Will of living
persons."

[8] (1994)3 SCC 1

[9] "(1) Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other
provisions of this part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom
of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate
religion. (2) Nothing in this Article shall affect the operation of
any existing law or prevent the State from making any law - a)
regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other
secular activities which may be associated with religious practice; b)
providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu
religious institutions of a public character to all classes and
sections of Hindus."

[10] "Subject to public order, morality and health, every religious
denomination or any section thereof shall have a right- a) to
establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable
purposes; b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion; c) to
own and acquire movable and immovable property; and d) to administer
such property in accordance with law."

[11] Acharya Jagdishwaranand Avadhut v. Commissioner of Police,
Calcutta (1984)4 SCC 522

[12] Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India AIR 1995 SC 1531
[13] John Vallamattom v. Union of India AIR 2003 SC 2902
[14] Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India AIR 1995 SC 1531

[15]"No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty
except according to procedure established by law"

[16] Constitutional Assembly Debates Volume VII pg. 547
[17] Mohammad Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum AIR 1985 SC 945

Authored by Gauri Kulkarni and can be reached at :
***@hotmail.com

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/ucc.htm

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Adivasi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references.
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An Adivasi woman from the Kutia Kondh tribal group in Orissa
Ādivāssi (Devanagri: आदिवासी, literally: earliest inhabitants) is an
umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups
believed to be the aboriginal population of India.[1][2][3] They
comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of
India.Adivasi are also commonly known as Tribals[4].

Adivasi societies are particularly present in the Indian states of
Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Mizoram and other
northeastern states, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Many smaller
tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological degradation caused by
modernization. Both commercial forestry and intensive agriculture have
proved destructive to the forests that had endured swidden agriculture
for many centuries[5]. Officially recognized by the Indian government
as "Scheduled Tribes" in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of
India, they are often grouped together with scheduled castes in the
category "Scheduled Castes and Tribes", which is eligible for certain
affirmative action measures.

Contents [show]
1 Connotations of the word 'Adivasi'
2 Scheduled tribes
3 Primitive tribes
4 Geographical overview
5 The peopling of India
6 Disruptions during Mughal and colonial periods
7 Tribal classification criteria and demands
7.1 Demands for tribal classification
7.2 Endogamy, exogamy and ethnogenesis
7.3 Other criteria
8 Religion
8.1 Hinduism
8.1.1 Adivasi roots of modern Hinduism
8.1.2 Adivasi Saints
8.1.3 Sages
8.1.4 Maharishis
8.1.5 Avatars
8.1.6 Other Tribals and Hinduism
8.2 Sarna
8.3 Tribals want separate religion code
9 Tribal system
10 Education
11 Economy
11.1 Exploitation
12 Participation in Indian independence movement
12.1 List of rebellions against British rule
13 Some notable Scheduled Tribes
14 See also
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links


[edit] Connotations of the word 'Adivasi'
Although terms such as atavika (Sanskrit for forest dwellers), vanvasi
or girijan (hill people)[6] are also used for the tribes of India,
adivasi carries the specific meaning of being the original and
autochthonous inhabitants of a given region, and was specifically
coined for that purpose in the 1930s.[7] Over a period of time, unlike
the terms "aborigines" or "tribes", the word "adivasi" has also
developed a connotation of past autonomy which was disrupted during
the British colonial period in India and has not been restored.[8]
Opposition to usage of the term is varied, and it has been argued that
the "original inhabitant" contention is based on dubious claims and
that the adivasi - non adivasi divide that is created is artificial.
[9]

[edit] Scheduled tribes
The Constitution of India, Article 366 (25) defines Scheduled Tribes
as "such tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within such
tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to the
scheduled Tribes (STs) for the purposes of this Constitution". In
Article 342, the procedure to be followed for specification of a
scheduled tribe is prescribed. However, it does not contain the
criterion for the specification of any community as scheduled tribe.
An often used criterion is based on attributes such as:

Geographical isolation - they live in cloistered, exclusive, remote
and inhospitable areas such as hills and forests.
Backwardness - their livelihood is based on primitive agriculture, a
low-value closed economy with a low level of technology that leads to
their poverty. They have low levels of literacy and health.
Distinctive culture, language and religion - communities have
developed their own distinctive culture, language and religion.
Shyness of contact – they have a marginal degree of contact with other
cultures and people.[10]
[edit] Primitive tribes
The Scheduled Tribe groups who were identified as more backward
communities among the tribal population groups have been categorised
as 'Primitive Tribal Groups' (PTGs) by the Government at the Centre in
1975. So far seventy-five tribal communities have been identified as
'primitive tribal groups' in different States of India. These hunting,
food-gathering, and some agricultural communities, who have been
identified as more backward communities among the tribal population
groups need special programmes for their sustainable development. The
primitive tribes are awakening and demanding their rights for special
reservation quota for them.[11]

[edit] Geographical overview
There is a substantial list of Scheduled Tribes in India recognised as
tribal under the Constitution of India. Tribal peoples constitute 8.2%
of the nation's total population, over 84 million people according to
the 2001 census. One concentration lives in a belt along the Himalayas
stretching through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and
Uttarakhand in the west, to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal
Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland in the northeast. In the
northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and
Nagaland, more than 90% of the population is tribal. However, in the
remaining northeast states of Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, and Tripura,
tribal peoples form between 20 and 30% of the population.

Another concentration lives in the hilly areas of central India
(Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and, to a lesser extent, Andhra
Pradesh); in this belt, which is bounded by the Narmada River to the
north and the Godavari River to the southeast, tribal peoples occupy
the slopes of the region's mountains. Other tribals, including the
Santals, live in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Central Indian states have
the country's largest tribes, and, taken as a whole, roughly 75% of
the total tribal population live there, although the tribal population
there accounts for only around 10% of the region's total population.

There are smaller numbers of tribal people in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
and Kerala in south India; in western India in Gujarat and Rajasthan,
and in the union territories of Lakshadweep and the Andaman Islands
and Nicobar Islands. About one percent of the populations of Kerala
and Tamil Nadu are tribal, whereas about six percent in Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka are members of tribes.

[edit] The peopling of India
The concept of 'original inhabitant' is directly related to the
initial peopling of India, which, due to the debate on topics such as
the Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis, has been a contentious area of
research and discourse.[12] Some anthropologists hypothesize that the
region was settled by multiple human migrations over tens of
millennia, which makes it even harder to select certain groups as
being truly aboriginal.[13] One narrative, largely based on genetic
research, describes Negritos, similar to the Andamanese adivasis of
today, as the first humans to colonize India, likely 30-65 thousand
years before present (kybp).[14][15] 60% of all Indians share the
mtDNA haplogroup M, which is universal among Andamanese islander
adivasis and might be a genetic legacy of the postulated first Indians.
[16] Some anthropologists theorize that these settlers were displaced
by invading Austro-Asiatic-speaking Australoid people (who largely
shared skin pigmentation and physiognomy with the Negritos, but had
straight rather than kinky hair), and adivasi tribes such as the
Irulas trace their origins to that displacement.[17][18] The Oraon
adivasi tribe of eastern India and the Korku tribe of western India
are considered to be examples of groups of Australoid origin.[19][20]
Subsequent to the Australoids, some anthropologists and geneticists
theorize that Caucasoids (including both Dravidians and Indo-Aryans)
and Mongoloids (Sino-Tibetans) immigrated into India: the Dravidians
possibly from Iran,[21][22][23] the Indo-Aryans possibly from the
Central Asian steppes[22][24][25] and the Tibeto-Burmans possibly from
the Himalayan and north-eastern borders of the subcontinent.[26] It
should be noted that none of these hypotheses is free from debate and
disagreement.

Ethnic origins and linguistic affiliations in India match only
inexactly, however: while the Oraon adivasis are classified as an
Australoid group, their language, called Kurukh, is Dravidian.[27]
Khasis and Nicobarese are considered to be Mongoloid groups[28][29]
and the Munda and Santals are Australoid groups,[30][31][32] but all
four speak Austro-Asiatic languages.[28][29][30] The Bhils and Gonds
are frequently classified as Australoid groups,[33] yet Bhil languages
are Indo-European and the Gondi language is Dravidian.[27] Also, in
post-colonial India, tribal languages suffered huge setbacks with the
formation of linguistic states after 1956 under the States
Reorganisation Act. For example, under state-sponsored educational
pressure, Irula children are being taught Tamil and a sense of shame
has begun to be associated with speaking the Irula language among some
children and educated adults.[17] Similarly, the Santals are
"gradually adopting languages of the areas inhabited, like Oriya in
Orissa, Hindi in Bihar and Bengali in West Bengal."[31]

[edit] Disruptions during Mughal and colonial periods
Although considered uncivilized and primitive,[34] adivasis were
usually not held to be intrinsically impure by surrounding (usually,
caucasoid - Dravidian or Aryan) caste Hindu populations, unlike
Dalits, who were.[7][35] Thus, the adivasi origins of Maharshi
(Sanksrit: Great Sage) Valmiki, who composed the Ramayana Hindu
religious epic, were acknowledged,[36] as were the origins of adivasi
tribes such as the Grasia and Bhilala, which descended from mixed
Rajput and Bhil marriages.[37][38] Unlike the subjugation of the
dalits, the adivasis often enjoyed autonomy and, depending on region,
evolved mixed hunter-gatherer and farming economies, controlling their
lands as a joint patrimony of the tribe.[34][39][40] In some areas,
securing adivasi approval and support was considered crucial by local
rulers,[7][41] and larger adivasi groups were able to sustain their
own kingdoms in central India.[7] The Gond Rajas of Garha-Mandla and
Chanda are examples of an adivasi aristocracy that ruled in this
region, and were "not only the hereditary leaders of their Gond
subjects, but also held sway over substantial communities of non-
tribals who recognized them as their feudal lords."[39][42]

This relative autonomy and collective ownership of adivasi land by
adivasis was severely disrupted by the advent of the Mughals in the
early 16th century. Similarly, the British beginning in the 18th
century added to the consolidation of feudalism in India, first under
the jagirdari system and then under the zamindari system.[43]
Beginning with the Permanent Settlement imposed by the British in
Bengal and Bihar, which later became the template for a deepening of
feudalism throughout India, the older social and economic system in
the country began to alter radically.[44][45] Land, both forest areas
belonging to adivasis and settled farmland belonging to non-adivasi
peasants, was rapidly made the legal property of British-designated
zamindars (landlords), who in turn moved to extract the maximum
economic benefit possible from their newfound property and subjects
without regard to historical tenure or ownership.[46] Adivasi lands
sometimes experienced an influx of non-local settlers, often brought
from far away (as in the case of Muslims and Sikhs brought to Kol
territory)[47] by the zamindars to better exploit local land, forest
and labor.[43][44] Deprived of the forests and resources they
traditionally depended on and sometimes coerced to pay taxes, many
adivasis were forced to borrow at usurious rates from moneylenders,
often the zamindars themselves.[48][49] When they were unable to pay,
that forced them to become bonded laborers for the zamindars.[50]
Often, far from paying off the principal of their debt, they were
unable even to offset the compounding interest, and this was made the
justification for their children working for the zamindar after the
death of the initial borrower.[50] In the case of the Andamanese
adivasis, long isolated from the outside world in autonomous
societies, mere contact with outsiders was often sufficient to set off
deadly epidemics in tribal populations,[51] and it is alleged that
some sections of the British government directly attempted to destroy
some tribes.[52]

Land dispossession and subjugation by British and zamindar interests
resulted in a number of adivasi revolts in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries, such as the Santal hul (or Santal revolt)
of 1855-56.[53] Although these were suppressed ruthlessly by the
governing British authority (the East India Company prior to 1858, and
the British government after 1858), partial restoration of privileges
to adivasi elites (e.g. to Mankis, the leaders of Munda tribes) and
some leniency in tax burdens resulted in relative calm, despite
continuing and widespread dispossession, from the late nineteenth
century onwards.[47][54] The economic deprivation, in some cases,
triggered internal adivasi migrations within India that would continue
for another century, including as labor for the emerging tea
plantations in Assam.[55]

[edit] Tribal classification criteria and demands

Scarification, a traditional symbol of Great Andamanese tribal
identity (1901 photo)Population complexities, and the controversies
surrounding ethnicity and language in India, sometimes make the
official recognition of groups as adivasis (by way of inclusion in the
Scheduled Tribes list) political and contentious. However, regardless
of their language family affiliations, Australoid and Negrito groups
that have survived as distinct forest, mountain or island dwelling
tribes in India and are often classified as adivasi.[56] The
relatively autonomous Mongoloid tribal groups of Northeastern India
(including Khasis, Apatani and Nagas), who are mostly Austro-Asiatic
or Tibeto-Burman speakers, are also considered to be adivasis: this
area comprises 7.5% of India's land area but 20% of its adivasi
population.[57] However, not all autonomous northeastern groups are
considered adivasis; for instance, the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Meitei
of Manipur were once tribal but, having been settled for many
centuries, are caste Hindus.[58]

It is also difficult, for a given social grouping, to definitively
decide whether it is a 'caste' or a 'tribe'. A combination of internal
social organization, relationship with other groups, self-
classification and perception by other groups has to be taken into
account to make a categorization, which is at best inexact and open to
doubt.[59] These categorizations have been diffuse for thousands of
years, and even ancient formulators of caste-discriminatory legal
codes (which usually only applied to settled populations, and not
adivasis) were unable to come up with clean distinctions.[60]

[edit] Demands for tribal classification
An additional difficulty in deciding whether a group meets the
criteria to be adivasi or not are the aspirational movements created
by the federal and state benefits, including job and educational
reservations, enjoyed by groups listed as scheduled tribes (STs).[61]
In Manipur, Meitei commentators have pointed to the lack of scheduled
tribe status as a key economic disadvantage for Meiteis competing for
jobs against groups that are classified as scheduled tribes.[58] In
Assam, Rajbongshi representatives have demanded scheduled tribe status
as well.[62] In Rajasthan, Haryana and other northern states, the
Gujjar community has demanded ST status, even blockading the national
capital of Delhi to press their demand.[63] In several cases, these
claims to tribalhood are disputed by tribes who are already listed in
the schedule and fear economic losses if more powerful groups are
recognized as scheduled tribes; for instance, the Rajbongshi demand
faces resistance from the Bodo tribe,[62] and the Meena tribe has
vigorously opposed Gujjar aspirations to be recognized as a scheduled
tribe.[64]

[edit] Endogamy, exogamy and ethnogenesis
Part of the challenge is that the endogamous nature of tribes is also
conformed to by the vast majority of Hindu castes. Indeed, many
historians and anthropologists believe that caste endogamy reflects
the once-tribal origins of the various groups who now constitute the
settled Hindu castes.[65] Another defining feature of caste Hindu
society, which is often used to contrast them with Muslim and other
social groupings, is lineage/clan (or gotra) and village exogamy.[66]
[67] However, these in-marriage taboos are also held ubiquitously
among tribal groups, and do not serve as reliable differentiating
markers between caste and tribe.[68][69][70] Again, this could be an
ancient import from tribal society into settled Hindu castes.[71]
Interestingly, tribes such as the Muslim Gujjars of Kashmir and the
Kalash of Pakistan observe these exogamous traditions in common with
caste Hindus and non-Kashmiri adivasis, though their surrounding
Muslim populations do not.[66][72]

Some anthropologists, however, draw a distinction between tribes who
have continued to be tribal and tribes that have been absorbed into
caste society in terms of the breakdown of tribal (and therefore
caste) boundaries, and the proliferation of new mixed caste groups. In
other words, ethnogenesis (the construction of new ethnic identities)
in tribes occurs through a fission process (where groups splinter-off
as new tribes, which preserves endogamy), whereas with settled castes
it usually occurs through intermixture (in violation of strict
endogamy).[73]

[edit] Other criteria
Unlike castes, which form part of a complex and interrelated local
economic exchange system, tribes tend to form self-sufficient economic
units. For most tribal people, land-use rights traditionally derive
simply from tribal membership. Tribal society tends to the
egalitarian, with its leadership based on ties of kinship and
personality rather than on hereditary status. Tribes typically consist
of segmentary lineages whose extended families provide the basis for
social organization and control. Tribal religion recognizes no
authority outside the tribe.Have never been in India Caste system[74]

Any of these criteria may not apply in specific instances. Language
does not always give an accurate indicator of tribal or caste status.
Especially in regions of mixed population, many tribal groups have
lost their mother tongues and simply speak local or regional
languages. In parts of Assam - an area historically divided between
warring tribes and villages - increased contact among villagers began
during the colonial period, and has accelerated since independence in
1947. A pidgin Assamese developed while educated tribal members
learned Hindi and, in the late twentieth century, English.

Self-identification and group loyalty do not provide unfailing markers
of tribal identity either. In the case of stratified tribes, the
loyalties of clan, kin, and family may well predominate over those of
tribe. In addition, tribes cannot always be viewed as people living
apart; the degree of isolation of various tribes has varied
tremendously. The Gonds, Santals, and Bhils traditionally have
dominated the regions in which they have lived. Moreover, tribal
society is not always more egalitarian than the rest of the rural
populace; some of the larger tribes, such as the Gonds, are highly
stratified.

The apparently wide fluctuation in estimates of South Asia's tribal
population through the twentieth century gives a sense of how unclear
the distinction between tribal and nontribal can be. India's 1931
census enumerated 22 million tribal people, in 1941 only 10 million
were counted, but by 1961 some 30 million and in 1991 nearly 68
million tribal members were included. The differences among the
figures reflect changing census criteria and the economic incentives
individuals have to maintain or reject classification as a tribal
member.

These gyrations of census data serve to underline the complex
relationship between caste and tribe. Although, in theory, these terms
represent different ways of life and ideal types, in reality they
stand for a continuum of social groups. In areas of substantial
contact between tribes and castes, social and cultural pressures have
often tended to move tribes in the direction of becoming castes over a
period of years. Tribal peoples with ambitions for social advancement
in Indian society at large have tried to gain the classification of
caste for their tribes. On occasion, an entire tribe or part of a
tribe joined a Hindu sect and thus entered the caste system en masse.
If a specific tribe engaged in practices that Hindus deemed polluting,
the tribe's status when it was assimilated into the caste hierarchy
would be affected.

[edit] Religion
Main article: Tribal religions in India
The majority of Adivasi practice Hinduism and Christianity. During the
last two decades Adivasi from Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand have
converted to Protestant groups. Adivasi beliefs vary by tribe, and are
usually different from the historical Vedic religion, with its
monistic underpinnings, Indo-European deities (who are often cognates
of ancient Iranian, Greek and Roman deities, e.g. Mitra/Mithra/
Mithras), lack of idol worship and lack of a concept of reincarnation.
[75] The "centre of Rig Vedic religion was the Yajna, the sacrificial
fire" and there was "no Atma, no Brahma, no Moksha, no idol worship in
the Rig Veda."[76] Two specific rituals held great importance and it
is known that, "when the Indo-Aryans and the Persians formed a single
people, they performed sacrifices (Vedic yajna: Avestan yasna), and
that they already had a sacred drink (Vedic soma: Avestan haoma)."[77]

[edit] Hinduism
[edit] Adivasi roots of modern Hinduism
Most important deities added to the Hindu pantheon after the Vedic
period were dark-skinned, such as Vishnu (who has been described as
meghavarnam, or dark as a cloud), Rama, Krishna, Shiva and Kali, which
may reflect adivasi origins.[78] Today, these deities constitute the
main divinities worshiped by most caste Hindus.[79] In a marked
departure from the Indo-Aryan religion (although not directly
contradicted by it), idol worship has also become firmly established
for most Hindus, though exceptions such as the Arya Samaj school do
exist.[80] Some historians and anthropologists assert that much of
what constitutes popular Hinduism today is actually descended from an
amalgamation of adivasi faiths, idol worship practices and deities,
rather than the original Indo-Aryan faith.[76][81][82] This also
includes the sacred status of certain animals and plants, such as
monkeys, cows, peacocks, cobras (nagas), elephants, peepul, tulsi
(holy basil) and neem, which may once have held totemic importance for
certain adivasi tribes.[81]

[edit] Adivasi Saints
Saint Buddhu Bhagat, led the Kol Insurrection (1831-1832) aimed
against tax imposed on Mundas by Muslim rulers.
Saint Dhira or Kannappa Nayanar[10], one of 63 Nayanar Shaivite
saints, a hunter from whom Lord Shiva gladly accepted food offerings.
It is said that he poured water from his mouth on the Shivlingam and
offered the Lord swine flesh.[11]
Saint Dhudhalinath, Koli, Gujarati, a 17th or 18th century devotee (P.
4, The Story of Historic People of India-The Kolis)
Saint Ganga Narain, led the Bhumij Revolt (1832-1833) aimed against
missionaries and British colonialists.
Saint Girnari Velnathji, Koli, Gujarati of Junagadh, a 17th or 18th
century devotee [83]
Saint Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma or Guru Brahma, a Bodo whose founded
the Brahma Dharma aimed against missionaries and colonialists. The
Brahma Dharma movement sought to unite peoples of all religions to
worship God together and survives even today.
Saint Jatra Oraon, Oraon, led the Tana Bhagat Movement (1914-1919)
aimed against the missionaries and British colonialists
Saint Sri Koya Bhagat, Koli, Gujarati, a 17th or 18th century devotee
[83]
Saint Tantya Mama (Bhil), a Bhil after whom a movement is named after
- the "Jananayak Tantya Bhil"
Saint Tirumangai Alvar, Kallar, composed the six Vedangas in beautiful
Tamil verse[12]
[edit] Sages
Bhaktaraj Bhadurdas, Koli, Gujarati, a 17th or 18th century devotee
[83]
Bhakta Shabari, a Bhil woman that offered Shri Rama and Shri Laxmana
her half-eaten ber fruit, which they gratefully accepted when they
were searching for Shri Sita Devi in the forest.
Madan Bhagat, Koli, Gujarati, a 17th or 18th century devotee [83]
Sany Kanji Swami, Koli, Gujarati, a 17th or 18th century devotee [83]
Bhaktaraj Valram, Koli, Gujarati, a 17th or 18th century devotee [83]
[edit] Maharishis
Maharshi Matanga[84], Matanga Bhil, Guru of Bhakta Shabari. In fact,
Chandalas are often addressed as ‘Matanga ’in passages like Varaha
Purana 1.139.91
Maharshi Valmiki, Kirata Bhil, composed the Ramayana.[36] He is
considered to be an avatar in the Balmiki community.
[edit] Avatars
Birsa Bhagwan or Birsa Munda, considered an avatar of Khasra Kora.
People approached him as Singbonga, the supreme spirit. He converted
even Christians to his own sect.[13] He was against conversions by
missionaries. He wanted not only political, but religious freedom as
well![14] He and his clan, the Mundas, were connected with Vaishnavite
traditions as they were influenced by Sri Chaitanya.[15] Birsa was
very close to the Panre brothers Vaishnavites.
Kirata - the form of Lord Shiva as a hunter. It is mentioned in the
Mahabharata. The Karppillikkavu Sree Mahadeva Temple, Kerala adores
Lord Shiva in this avatar and is known to be one of the oldest
surviving temples in Bharat.
Vettakkorumakan, the son of Lord Kirata.
Kaladutaka or 'Vaikunthanatha', Kallar (robber), avatar of Lord Vishnu.
[16]
[edit] Other Tribals and Hinduism
Some Hindus believe that Indian tribals are close to the romantic
ideal of the ancient silvan culture[85] of the Vedic people. Madhav
Sadashiv Golwalkar said:

"The tribals "can be given yajñopavîta (…) They should be given equal
rights and footings in the matter of religious rights, in temple
worship, in the study of Vedas, and in general, in all our social and
religious affairs. This is the only right solution for all the
problems of casteism found nowadays in our Hindu society.”[86]

At the Lingaraja temple in Bhubaneswar (11th century), there are
Brahmin and Badu (tribal) priests. The Badus have the most intimate
contact with the deity of the temple, and only they can bathe and
adorn it.[87]

The Bhil tribe is mentioned in the Mahabharata. The Bhil boy Eklavya's
teacher was Drona, and he had the honour to be invited to
Yudhisthira's Rajasuya Yajna at Indraprastha.[88] Indian tribals were
also part of royal armies in the Ramayana and in the Arthasastra.[89]

Bhakta Shabari was a Bhil woman that offered Shri Rama and Shri
Laxmana 'ber' when they were searching for Shri Sita in the forest.
Maharishi Matanga, a Bhil became a Brahmana.

[edit] Sarna
Some western authors and Indian sociologists refer to adivasi beliefs
as animism and spirit worship, and hold them to be distinct from
Hinduism, Christianity or Islam. In Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa
states, their religion is sometimes called Sarna. The Jharkhand
movement gave the Santals an opportunity to create a ‘great tradition’
of their own. [90] As Orans reported, “The movement is spoken of in
the following terms ‘we should not leave our religion; we should
continue to use rice-beer; we should have our worship at the sacred
grove; also we shuld not stop eating beef. We will call our religion
Sarna Dhorom.’ [91] Sarna is the Munda word for ‘Sacred Grove’ while
Dhorom is the Oriya word meaning ‘religion’. [92]

Sarna involves belief in a great spirit called the Sing Bonga. Santhal
belief holds the world to be inhabited by numerous spiritual beings of
different kinds. Santhals consider themselves as living and doing
everything in close association with these spirits. Rituals are
performed under groves of Sal trees called Jaher (or sacred grove),
where Bonga is believed to appear or express himself. Often, Jaher are
found in the forests.

According to the mythology of the Santhal community, the genesis of
the ‘Sarna’ religion occurred when the ‘Santhal tribals had gone to
the forest for hunting and they started the discussion about their
‘Creator and Savior’ while they were taking rest under a tree. They
questioned themselves that who is their God? Whether the Sun, the Wind
or the Cloud? Finally, they came to a conclusion that they would leave
an arrow in the sky and wherever the arrow would target that will be
the God’s house. They left an arrow in the sky; it fell down under a
Sal tree. Then, they started worshiping the Sal tree and named their
religion as ‘Sarna’ because it is derived from a Sal tree.[citation
needed]4 Thus, Sarna religion came into existence. There are priests
and an assistant priests called "Naikey" and "Kudam Naike" in every
Santhal village.

[edit] Tribals want separate religion code
Tribal groups from several states across the country held a protest in
Delhi, demanding they be listed under a distinct 'religion code' in
the 2011 population census. Union Minister of Food Processing
Industries Subodh Kant Sahay, who visited the protest-site, promised
to take their demands to the government.Nearly 150 people of various
tribal groups from states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal,
Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh took part in the protest at Jantar
Mantar.The protesters said that unlike other religions of the country,
which have been provided specific allocations, the tribal groups which
form 8.2 percent of the country's population, have been deprived of
their religious identity.They appealed to the government to bring
about changes in the 2011 population census table and work towards
betterment of their living conditions.[93]

[edit] Tribal system
Tribals are not part of the caste system. This is an egalitarianism
society. Christian tribals do not automatically lose their traditional
tribal rules.

When in 1891 a missionary asked 150 Munda Christians to "inter-dine"
with people of different rank, only 20 Christians did so, and many
converts lost their new faith. Father Haghenbeek concluded on this
episode that these rules are not "pagan", but a sign of "national
sentiment and pride", and wrote:

“On the contrary, while proclaiming the equality of all men before
God, we now tell them: preserve your race pure, keep your customs,
refrain from eating with Lohars (blacksmiths), Turis (bamboo workers)
and other people of lower rank. To become good Christians, it (inter-
dining) is not required.”[94]

However, many scholars argue that the claim that tribals are an
egalitarian society in contrast to a caste-based society is a part of
a larger political agenda by some to maximize any differences from
tribal and urban societies. According to scholar Koenraad Elst, caste
practices and social taboos among Indian tribals date back to
antiquity:

"The Munda tribals not only practise tribal endogamy and commensality,
but also observe a jâti division within the tribe, buttressed by
notions of social pollution, a mythological explanation and harsh
punishments. A Munda Catholic theologian testifies: The tribals of
Chhotanagpur are an endogamous tribe. They usually do not marry
outside the tribal community, because to them the tribe is sacred. The
way to salvation is the tribe. Among the Santals, it is tabooed to
marry outside the tribe or inside ones clan, just as Hindus marry
inside their caste and outside their gotra. More precisely: To protect
their tribal solidarity, the Santals have very stringent marriage
laws. A Santal cannot marry a non-Santal or a member of his own clan.
The former is considered as a threat to the tribe's integrity, while
the latter is considered incestuous. Among the Ho of Chhotanagpur, the
trespasses which occasion the exclusion from the tribe without chance
of appeal, are essentially those concerning endogamy and exogamy."

Inter-dining has also been prohibited by many Indian tribal peoples.

[edit] Education
Extending the system of primary education into tribal areas and
reserving places for tribal children in middle and high schools and
higher education institutions are central to government policy, but
efforts to improve a tribe's educational status have had mixed
results. Recruitment of qualified teachers and determination of the
appropriate language of instruction also remain troublesome.
Commission after commission on the "language question" has called for
instruction, at least at the primary level, in the students' native
tongue. In some regions, tribal children entering school must begin by
learning the official regional language, often one completely
unrelated to their tribal tongue.

Many tribal schools are plagued by high dropout rates. Children attend
for the first three to four years of primary school and gain a
smattering of knowledge, only to lapse into illiteracy later. Few who
enter continue up to the tenth grade; of those who do, few manage to
finish high school. Therefore, very few are eligible to attend
institutions of higher education, where the high rate of attrition
continues. Members of agrarian tribes like the Gonds often are
reluctant to send their children to school, needing them, they say, to
work in the fields. On the other hand, in those parts of the northeast
where tribes have generally been spared the wholesale onslaught of
outsiders, schooling has helped tribal people to secure political and
economic benefits. The education system there has provided a corps of
highly trained tribal members in the professions and high-ranking
administrative posts.

An academy for teaching and preserving Adivasi languages and culture
was established in 1999 by the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre.
The Adivasi Academy is located at Tejgadh in Gujarat.

[edit] Economy
Most tribes are concentrated in heavily forested areas that combine
inaccessibility with limited political or economic significance.
Historically, the economy of most tribes was subsistence agriculture
or hunting and gathering. Tribal members traded with outsiders for the
few necessities they lacked, such as salt and iron. A few local Hindu
craftsmen might provide such items as cooking utensils.

In the early 20th century, however, large areas fell into the hands of
non-tribals, on account of improved transportation and communications.
Around 1900, many regions were opened by the government to settlement
through a scheme by which inward migrants received ownership of land
free in return for cultivating it. For tribal people, however, land
was often viewed as a common resource, free to whoever needed it. By
the time tribals accepted the necessity of obtaining formal land
titles, they had lost the opportunity to lay claim to lands that might
rightfully have been considered theirs. The colonial and post-
independence regimes belatedly realized the necessity of protecting
tribals from the predations of outsiders and prohibited the sale of
tribal lands. Although an important loophole in the form of land
leases was left open, tribes made some gains in the mid-twentieth
century, and some land was returned to tribal peoples despite
obstruction by local police and land officials.

In the 1970s, tribal peoples came again under intense land pressure,
especially in central India. Migration into tribal lands increased
dramatically, as tribal people lost title to their lands in many ways
– lease, forfeiture from debts, or bribery of land registry officials.
Other non-tribals simply squatted, or even lobbied governments to
classify them as tribal to allow them to compete with the formerly
established tribes. In any case, many tribal members became landless
labourers in the 1960s and 1970s, and regions that a few years earlier
had been the exclusive domain of tribes had an increasingly mixed
population of tribals and non-tribals. Government efforts to evict
nontribal members from illegal occupation have proceeded slowly; when
evictions occur at all, those ejected are usually members of poor,
lower castes.

Improved communications, roads with motorized traffic, and more
frequent government intervention figured in the increased contact that
tribal peoples had with outsiders. Commercial highways and cash crops
frequently drew non-tribal people into remote areas. By the 1960s and
1970s, the resident nontribal shopkeeper was a permanent feature of
many tribal villages. Since shopkeepers often sell goods on credit
(demanding high interest), many tribal members have been drawn deeply
into debt or mortgaged their land. Merchants also encourage tribals to
grow cash crops (such as cotton or castor-oil plants), which increases
tribal dependence on the market for basic necessities. Indebtedness is
so extensive that although such transactions are illegal, traders
sometimes 'sell' their debtors to other merchants, much like
indentured peons.

The final blow for some tribes has come when nontribals, through
political jockeying, have managed to gain legal tribal status, that
is, to be listed as a Scheduled Tribe.

Tribes in the Himalayan foothills have not been as hard-pressed by the
intrusions of non-tribal. Historically, their political status was
always distinct from the rest of India. Until the British colonial
period, there was little effective control by any of the empires
centered in peninsular India; the region was populated by autonomous
feuding tribes. The British, in efforts to protect the sensitive
northeast frontier, followed a policy dubbed the "Inner Line"; non
tribal people were allowed into the areas only with special
permission. Postindependence governments have continued the policy,
protecting the Himalayan tribes as part of the strategy to secure the
border with China.

Government policies on forest reserves have affected tribal peoples
profoundly. Government efforts to reserve forests have precipitated
armed (if futile) resistance on the part of the tribal peoples
involved. Intensive exploitation of forests has often meant allowing
outsiders to cut large areas of trees (while the original tribal
inhabitants were restricted from cutting), and ultimately replacing
mixed forests capable of sustaining tribal life with single-product
plantations. Nontribals have frequently bribed local officials to
secure effective use of reserved forest lands.

The northern tribes have thus been sheltered from the kind of
exploitation that those elsewhere in South Asia have suffered. In
Arunachal Pradesh (formerly part of the North-East Frontier Agency),
for example, tribal members control commerce and most lower-level
administrative posts. Government construction projects in the region
have provided tribes with a significant source of cash. Some tribes
have made rapid progress through the education system (the role of
early missionaries was significant in this regard). Instruction was
begun in Assamese but was eventually changed to Hindi; by the early
1980s, English was taught at most levels. Northeastern tribal people
have thus enjoyed a certain measure of social mobility.

[edit] Exploitation
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told chief ministers from 29 Indian
states to end exploitation of tribal people.Speaking at a conference
in Delhi, Mr Singh said there had been a "systematic failure" to give
tribal people a stake in India's modern economy. Also said that this
this was fomenting discontent, making them vulnerable to Maoists. Mr
Singh said indigenous groups, who live mainly in forests, were not
taken into account when considering the development of these
areas."There has been a systematic failure in giving the tribals a
stake in the modern economic processes that inexorably intrude into
their living spaces," he told the conference of chief ministers and
state ministers of tribal affairs."The alienation built over decades
is now taking a dangerous turn in some parts of our country. The
systematic exploitation and social and economic abuse of our tribal
communities can no longer be tolerated.Also said 'We must change our
ways of dealing with tribals - we have to win the battle for their
hearts'.[95][96][97][98][99]

[edit] Participation in Indian independence movement
There were tribal reform and rebellion movements during the period of
the British Empire, some of which also participated in the Indian
freedom struggle or attacked mission posts.[100] There were several
Adivasis in the Indian independence movement including Khajya Naik,
Bhima Naik, Jantya Bhil and Rehma Vasave.

[edit] List of rebellions against British rule
During the period of British rule, India saw the rebellions of several
backward-castes, mainly tribals that revolted against British rule.
These were:[101].

Halba rebellion (1774-79)
Chamka rebellion (1776-1787)[102]
Chuar rebellion in Bengal (1795-1800)[103]
Bhopalpatnam Struggle (1795)
Khurda Rebellion in Orissa (1817)[104]
Bhil rebellion (1822-1857)[105]
Paralkot rebellion (1825)
Tarapur rebellion (1842-54)
Maria rebellion (1842-63)
First Freedom Struggle (1856-57)
Bhil rebellion, begun by Tantya Tope in Banswara (1858)[106]
Koi revolt (1859)
Gond rebellion, begun by Ramji Gond in Adilabad (1860)[107]
Muria rebellion (1876)
Rani rebellion (1878-82)
Bhumkal (1910)
The Kuki Uprising (1917-1919)in Manipur

Some notable Scheduled Tribes

Thakur Peoples of Maharashta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thakur
Andamanese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andamanese
Bodos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodos
Bhils
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhils
Chakma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakma
Chenchu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenchu
Dhodia Tribes of Gujarat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhodia
Gonds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonds_people
Khasis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khasi
indigenous people of Lakshadweep
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshadweep
Kurichiya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurichiya
Kurumbar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurumbar
Tripuris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripuri
Mizos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizo
Mundaris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munda_people
Nagas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_(people)
Nicobarese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicobarese
Oraon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oraon
Santals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santals
Todas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toda_(tribe)
Maldharis of Gujarat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldharis
Cholanaikkan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholanaikkan
Warli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warli
Kisan Tribe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisan_Tribe
Dongria Kondh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongria_Kondh
Bonda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonda_people
Kutia Kondh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutia_Kondh
Bishapus A'Mishapus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishapus_A%27Mishapus

See also

Tribal religions in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_religions_in_India
List of Scheduled Tribes in India; according to the constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scheduled_Tribes_in_India
Scheduled castes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_castes
Caste system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system
C. K. Janu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._K._Janu
Chakma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakma
Jarawa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarawa
Shompen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shompen
Great Andamanese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Andamanese
Meenas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meenas

References

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retrieved 2008-11-25, "... Adivasis are the aborigines of India ..."
^ Minocheher Rustom Masani and Ramaswamy Srinivasan (1985), Freedom
and Dissent: Essays in Honour of Minoo Masani on His Eigthtieth
Birthday, Democratic Research Service, http://books.google.com/books?id=v861AAAAIAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The Adivasis are the original inhabitants
of India. That is what Adivasi means: the original inhabitant. They
were the people who were there before the Dravidians. The tribals are
the Gonds, the Bhils, the Murias, the Nagas and a hundred more. ..."
^ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1968), The Selected Works of Mahatma
Gandhi : Satyagraha in South Africa, Navajivan Publishing House,
http://books.google.com/books?id=cApuAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-25,
"... The Adivasis are the original inhabitants ..."
^ [1]
^ Acharya, Deepak and Shrivastava Anshu (2008): Indigenous Herbal
Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices,
Aavishkar Publishers Distributor, Jaipur- India. ISBN 9788179102527.
pp 440.
^ Elst, Koenraad: (2001)
^ a b c d Robert Harrison Barnes, Andrew Gray and Benedict Kingsbury
(1995), Indigenous Peoples of Asia, Association for Asian Studies,
ISBN 0924304146, http://books.google.com/books?id=-8eBAAAAMAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The Concept of the Adivasi: According to
the political activists who coined the word in the 1930s, the
"adivasis" are the original inhabitants of South Asia ..."
^ Louise Waite (2006), Embodied Working Lives: Work and Life in
Maharashtra, India, Lexington Books, ISBN 073910876X,
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"... The scheduled tribes themselves tend to refer to their ethnic
grouping as adivasis, which means 'original inhabitant.' Hardiman
continues to argue that the term adivasi is preferable in India as it
evokes a shared history of relative freedom in precolonial
times ..."
^ Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1980), The Scheduled Tribes of India,
Transaction Publishers, ISBN 0878556923, http://books.google.com/books?id=9qt2e8xc-M4C,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... I have stated above, while ascertaining the
general attitude of Mr. Jaipal Singh to tribal problems, his
inisistence on the term 'Adivasi' being used for Schedule Tribes ...
Sir, myself I claim to an Adivasi and an original inhabitant of the
country as Mr. Jaipal Singh ... a pseudo-ethno-historical
substantiation for the term 'Adivasi' ..."
^ [2] Labour Bureau, Government of India (from here)
^ New Book: Anthropology of Primitive Tribes in India
^ Edwin Bryant and Laurie L. Patton (2005), The Indo-Aryan
Controversy, Routledge, ISBN 0700714626, http://books.google.com/books?id=ui3nAXVstroC,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... we now exist in an era where one's use of
evidence is inevitably suspect of being linked to nationalist,
colonialist, or cultural agendas ... No issue is more illustrative of
this impasse than the debate about Aryan origins ..."
^ Ludwig Gumplowicz and Irving Louis Horowitz (1980), Outlines of
Sociology, Transaction Publishers, ISBN 0878556931,
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"... The Negritos were the earliest inhabitants of India ... The Proto-
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India and therefore may be considered to be the true aborigines.
Thereafter the Austro-Asiatic peoples came ... the Indo Aryans came
and settled in India; so, too, did the Dravidians ... This being the
state of our knowledge regarding the peopling of India, it would be
hazardous to look upon one particular section of the population as the
aborigines of India ..."
^ Spencer Wells (2002), The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey,
Princeton University Press, ISBN 069111532X, http://books.google.com/books?id=WAsKm-_zu5sC,
"... the population of south-east Asia prior to 6000 years ago was
composed largely of groups of hunter-gatherers very similar to modern
Negritos ... So, both the Y-chromosome and the mtDNA paint a clear
picture of a coastal leap from Africa to south-east Asia, and onward
to Australia ... DNA has given us a glimpse of the voyage, which
almost certainly followed a coastal route va India ..."
^ Jim Mason (2005), An Unnatural Order: The Roots of Our Destruction
of Nature, Lantern Books, ISBN 1590560817, http://books.google.com/books?id=7nTUkoLzSk0C,
"... Australia's "aboriginal" peoples are another case in point. At
the end of the Ice Age, their homeland stretched from the middle of
India eastward into southeast Asia and as far south as Indonesia and
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Asia, these pre-Australoid forager people moved farther southward to
New Guinea and Australia. ..."
^ Revathi Rajkumar et al., Phylogeny and antiquity of M
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3447022477, http://books.google.com/books?id=NlSCAAAAIAAJ, "... into
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Australoid ...)"
^ Stephen Fuchs (1974), The Aboriginal Tribes of India, Macmillan
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Negrito strain, even though he admits that they are not pure
Negritos ..."
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2008-11-25, "... Among the studied population groups, Oraon is a
tribal group, conventionally agriculture-based, ethnically Australoid.
They are confined to the small villages and do not prefer to marry
outside their community maintaining the genetic make-up without any
admixture. ..."
^ N. Saha and H.K. Goswami (1987, Vol. 37, No. 5), Some Blood Genetic
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retrieved 2008-11-25, "... A sample of 102 individuals from the Korkus
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^ Tamil Literature Society (1963, Vol. 10), Tamil Culture, Academy of
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^ a b Namita Mukherjee, Almut Nebel, Ariella Oppenheim and Partha P.
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before present (ybp), when agriculture developed in the Fertile
Crescent region that extends from Israel through northern Syria to
western Iran, there was another eastward wave of human migration
(Cavalli-Sforza et al., 1994; Renfrew 1987), a part of which also
appears to have entered India. This wave has been postulated to have
brought the Dravidian languages into India (Renfrew 1987).
Subsequently, the Indo-European (Aryan) language family was introduced
into India about 4,000-3,000 ybp ..."
^ Dhavendra Kumar (2004), Genetic Disorders of the Indian
Subcontinent, Springer, ISBN 1402012152, http://books.google.com/books?id=bpl0LXKj13QC,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The analysis of two Y chromosome variants,
Hgr9 and Hgr3 provides interesting data (Quintan-Murci et al., 2001).
Microsatellite variation of Hgr9 among Iranians, Pakistanis and
Indians indicate an expansion of populations to around 9000 YBP in
Iran and then to 6,000 YBP in India. This migration originated in wha
was historically termed Elam in south-west Iran to the Indus valley,
and may have been associated with the spread of Dravidian languages
from south-west Iran (Quintan-Murci et al., 2001). ..."
^ Frank Raymond Allchin and George Erdosy (1995), The Archaeology of
Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States,
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retrieved 2008-11-25, "... There has also been a fairly general
agreement that the Proto-Indoaryan speakers at one time lived on the
steppes of Central Asia and that at a certain time they moved
southwards through Bactria and Afghanistan, and perhaps the Caucasus,
into Iran and India-Pakistan (Burrow 1973; Harmatta 1992) ..."
^ Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund (1998), High-resolution analysis
of Y-chromosomal polymorphisms reveals signatures of population
movements from central Asia and West Asia into India, Routledge, ISBN
0415154820, http://books.google.com/books?id=V0GEtXp-GsUC, retrieved
2008-11-25, "... During the last decades intensive archaeological
research in Russia and the Central Asian Republics of the former
Soviet Union as well as in Pakistan and northern India has
considerably enlarged our knowledge about the potential ancestors of
the Indo-Aryans and their relationship with cultures in west, central
and south Asia. Excavations in southern Russia and Central Asia
convinced the international community of archaeologists that the
Eurasian steppes had once been the original home of the speakers of
Indo-European language ..."
^ Richard Cordaux , Gunter Weiss, Nilmani Saha and Mark Stoneking
(2004), "The Northeast Indian Passageway: A Barrier or Corridor for
Human Migrations?", Molecular Biology and Evolution (Society for
Molecular Biology and Evolution), http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/21/8/1525,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... Our coalescence analysis suggests that the
expansion of Tibeto-Burman speakers to northeast India most likely
took place within the past 4,200 years ..."
^ a b Jim Cummins and David Corson (1999), Bilingual Education,
Springer, ISBN 0792348060, http://books.google.com/books?id=x1aw6j7xHpwC,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... over one million speakers each: Bhili (Indo-
Aryan) 4.5 million; Santali (Austric) 4.2 m; Gondi (Dravidian) 2.0 m;
and Kurukh (Dravidian) 1.3 million ..."
^ a b R. Khongsdier, Nandita Mukherjee (2003, Vol. 122, Issue 2),
"Growth and nutritional status of Khasi boys in Northeast India
relating to exogamous marriages and socioeconomic classes", American
Journal of Physical Anthropology, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/104533560/abstract,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The Khasis are one of the Indo-Mongoloid
tribes in Northeast India. They speak the Monkhmer language, which
belongs to the Austro-Asiatic group (Das, 1978) ..."
^ a b Govinda Chandra Rath (2006), Tribal Development in India: The
Contemporary Debate, SAGE, ISBN 0761934235, http://books.google.com/books?id=BxDKhOnWwOsC,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The Car Nicobarese are of Mongoloid
stock ... The Nicobarese speak different languages of the Nicobarese
group, which belongs to an Austro-Asiatic language sub-family ..."
^ a b Malini Srivastava (2007), "The Sacred Complex of Munda
Tribe" (PDF), Anthropologist,
http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T-Anth/Anth-09-0-000-000-2007-Web/Anth-09-4-000-07-Abst-PDF/Anth-09-4-327-07-417-Srivastava-M/Anth-09-4-327-07-417-Srivastava-M-Tt.pdf,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... Racially, they are proto-australoid and
speak Mundari dialect of Austro-Asiatic ..."
^ a b A. B. Chaudhuri (1993), State Formation Among Tribals: A Quest
for Santal Identity, Gyan Publishing House, ISBN 8121204224,
http://books.google.com/books?id=rhMXAAAAIAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-25,
"... The Santal is a large Proto-Australoid tribe found in West
Bengal, northern Orissa, Bihar, Assam as also in Bangladesh ... The
solidarity having been broken, the Santals are gradually adopting
languages of the areas inhabited, like Oriya in Orissa, Hindi in Bihar
and Bengali in West Bengal and Bangladesh ..."
^ A. B. Chaudhuri (1949), Tribal Heritage: A Study of the Santals,
Lutterworth Press, http://books.google.com/books?id=PpFCAAAAIAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The Santals belong to his second "main
race", the Proto-Australoid, which he considers arrived in India soon
after the Negritos ..."
^ U. Shankarkumar (1(2): 91-94 (2003)), "A Correlative Study of HLA,
Sickle Cell Gene and G6PD Deficiency with Splenomegaly and Malaria
Incidence Among Bhils and Pawra Tribes from Dhadgon, Dhule,
Maharastra" (PDF), Studies of Tribes and Tribals,
http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T%20&%20T/T%20&%20T-01-0-000-000-2003-Web/T%20&%20T-01-2-091-174-2003-Abst-PDF/T%20&%20T-01-2-091-094-2003-Shankar/T%20&%20T-01-2-091-094-2003-Shankar.pdf,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The Bhils are one of the largest tribes
concentrated mainly in Western Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Eastern
Gujarat and Northern Maharastra. Racially they were classified as
Gondids, Malids or Proto-Australoid, but their social history is still
a mystery (Bhatia and Rao, 1986) ..."
^ a b Aloysius Irudayam and Jayshree P. Mangubhai, India Village
Reconstruction & Development Project (2004), Adivasis Speak Out:
Atrocities Against Adivasis in Tamil Nadu, Books for Change, ISBN
8187380780, http://books.google.com/books?id=MBduAAAAMAAJ, retrieved
2008-11-26, "... uncivilised ... These forests and land territories
assume a territorial identity precisely because they are the extension
of the Adivasis' collective personality ..."
^ C.R. Bijoy, Core Committee of the All India Coordinating Forum of
Adivasis/Indigenous Peoples (February 2003), "The Adivasis of India -
A History of Discrimination, Conflict, and Resistance", PUCL Bulletin
(People's Union for Civil Liberties, India),
http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalit-tribal/2003/adivasi.htm, retrieved
2008-11-25, "... Adivasis are not, as a general rule, regarded as
unclean by caste Hindus in the same way as Dalits are. But they
continue to face prejudice (as lesser humans), they are socially
distanced and often face violence from society ..."
^ a b Thakorlal Bharabhai Naik (1956), The Bhils: A Study, Bharatiya
Adimjati Sevak Sangh, http://books.google.com/books?id=NogcAAAAMAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... Valmiki, from whose pen this great epic had
its birth, was himself a Bhil named Valia, according to the
traditional accounts of his life ..."
^ Edward Balfour (1885), The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and
Southern Asia, Bernard Quaritch, http://books.google.com/books?id=hVsIAAAAQAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... In Mewar, the Grasia is of mixed Bhil and
Rajput descent, paying tribute to the Rana of Udaipur ..."
^ R.K. Sinha (1995), The Bhilala of Malwa, Anthropological survey of
India, http://books.google.com/books?id=c_ltAAAAMAAJ, retrieved
2008-11-26, "... the Bhilala are commonly considered to be a mixed
group who sprung from the marriage alliances of the immigrant male
Rajputs and the Bhil women of the central India ..."
^ a b R. Singh (2000), Tribal Beliefs, Practices and Insurrections,
Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 8126105046, http://books.google.com/books?id=MWbenCIeK6oC,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... The Munda Parha was known as 'Manki', while
his Oraon counterpart was called 'Parha Raja.' The lands these
adivasis occupied were regarded to be the village's patrimony ... The
Gond rajas of Chanda and Garha Mandla were not only the hereditary
leaders of their Gond subjects, but also held sway over substantial
communities of non-tribals who recognized them as their feudal
lords ..."
^ Milind Gunaji (2005), Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra: A Travel Guide,
Popular Prakashan, ISBN 8171546692, http://books.google.com/books?id=JIjmDLardesC,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... The Navegaon is one of the forests in
Maharashtra where the natives of this land still live and earn their
livelihood by carrying out age old activities like hunting, gathering
forest produce and ancient methods of farming. Beyond the Kamkazari
lake is the Dhaavalghat, which is home to adivasis. They also have a
temple here, the shrine of Lord Waghdev ..."
^ Surajit Sinha, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (1987), Tribal
polities and state systems in pre-colonial eastern and north eastern
India, K.P. Bagchi & Co., ISBN 8170740142, http://books.google.com/books?id=H_S1AAAAIAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... The way in which and the extent to which
tribal support had been crucial in establishing a royal dynasty have
been made quite clear ... tribal loyalty, help and support were
essential in establishing a ruling family ..."
^ Hugh Chisholm (1910), The Encyclopedia Britannica, The Encyclopedia
Britannica Co., http://books.google.com/books?id=g8Xtkt1Qw3oC,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... The 16th century saw the establishment of a
powerful Gond kingdom by Sangram Sah, who succeeded in 1480 as the
47th of the petty Gond rajas of Garha-Mandla, and extended his
dominions to include Saugor and Damoh on the Vindhyan plateau,
Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur in the Nerbudda valley, and Seoni on the
Satpura highlands ..."
^ a b Piya Chatterjee (2001), A Time for Tea: Women, Labor, and Post/
colonial Politics on an Indian Plantation, Duke University Press, ISBN
0822326744, http://books.google.com/books?id=Ldw2lX7u-HsC, retrieved
2008-11-26, "... Among the Munda, customary forms of land tenure known
as khuntkatti stipulated that land belonged communally to the village,
and customary rights of cultivation, branched from corporate
ownership. Because of Mughal incursions, non-Jharkhandis began to
dominate the agrarian landscape, and the finely wrought system of
customary sharing of labor, produce and occupancy began to crumble.
The process of dispossession and land alienation, in motion since the
mid-eighteenth century, was given impetus by British policies that
established both zamindari and ryotwari systems of land revenue
administration. Colonial efforts toward efficient revenue collection
hinged on determining legally who had proprietal rights to the
land ..."
^ a b Ulrich van der Heyden and Holger Stoecker (2005), Mission und
macht im Wandel politischer Orientierungen: Europäische
Missionsgesellschaften in politischen Spannungsfeldern in Afrika und
Asien zwischen 1800 und 1945, Franz Steiner Verlag, ISBN 3515084231,
http://books.google.com/books?id=N7JfoaVbMGgC, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... The permanent settlement Act had an adverse effect upon the fate
of the Adivasis for, 'the land which the aboriginals had rested from
the jungle and cultivated as free men from generation was, by a stroke
of pen, declared to be the property of the Raja (king) and the
Jagirdars.' The alien became the Zamindars (Landlords) while the sons
of the soil got reduced to mere tenants. Now, it was the turn of the
Jagirdars-turned-Zamindars who further started leasing out land to the
new comers, who again started encroaching Adivasi land. The land
grabbing thus went on unabated. By the year 1832 about 6,411 Adivasi
villages were alienated in this process ..."
^ O.P. Ralhan (2002), Encyclopaedia of Political Parties, Anmol
Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 8174888659, http://books.google.com/books?id=_1gQS3LOafAC,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... The Permanent Settlement was 'nothing short
of the confiscation of raiyat lands in favor of the zamindars.' ...
Marx says '... in Bengal as in Madras and Bombay, under the zamindari
as under the ryotwari, the raiyats who form 11/12ths of the whole
Indian population have been wretchedly pauperised.' To this may be
added the inroads made by the Company's Government upon the village
community of the tribals (the Santhals, Kols, Khasias etc.) ... There
was a wholesale destruction of 'the national tradition.' Marx
observes: 'England has broken down the entire framework of Indian
society ..."
^ Govind Kelkar and Dev Nathan (1991), Gender and Tribe: Women, Land
and Forests in Jharkhand, Kali for Women, ISBN 1856490351,
http://books.google.com/books?id=cTluAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... of the features of the adivasi land systems. These laws also
showed that British colonial rule had passed on to a new stage of
exploitation ... Forests were the property of the zamindar or the
state ..."
^ a b William Wilson Hunter, Hermann Michael Kisch, Andrew Wallace
Mackie, Charles James O'Donnell and Herbert Hope Risley (1877), A
Statistical Account of Bengal, Trübner, http://books.google.com/books?id=R2MOAAAAQAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... The Kol insurrection of 1831, though, no
doubt, only the bursting forth of a fire that had long been
smouldering, was fanned into flame by the following episode:- The
brother of the Maharaja, who was holder of one of the maintenance
grants which comprised Sonpur, a pargana in the southern portion of
the estate, gave farms of some of the villages over the heads of the
Mankis and Mundas, to certain Muhammadans, Sikhs and others, who has
obtained his favour ... not only was the Manki dispossessed, but two
of his sisters were seduced or ravished by these hated foreigners ...
one of them ..., it was said, had abducted and dishonoured the Munda's
wife ..."
^ Radhakanta Barik (2006), Land and Caste Politics in Bihar, Shipra
Publications, ISBN 8175413050, http://books.google.com/books?id=lGNuAAAAMAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... As usually the zamindars were the
moneylenders, they could pressurize the tenants to concede to high
rent ..."
^ Shashank Shekhar Sinha (2005), Restless Mothers and Turbulent
Daughters: Situating Tribes in Gender Studies, Stree, ISBN 8185604738,
http://books.google.com/books?id=NzoqAAAAYAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... In addition, many tribals were forced to pay private
taxes ... ..."
^ a b Economic and Political Weekly, Sameeksha Trust, 1974, V.9, No.
6-8, http://books.google.com/books?id=DQUoAAAAMAAJ, retrieved
2008-11-26, "... The Adivasis spend their life-times working for the
landlord-moneylenders and, in some cases, even their children are
forced to work for considerable parts of their lives to pay off
debts ..."
^ Sita Venkateswar (2004), Development and Ethnocide: Colonial
Practices in the Andaman Islands, IWGIA, ISBN 8791563046,
http://books.google.com/books?id=XFETVExNUYgC, "... As I have
suggested previously, it is probable that some disease was introduced
among the coastal groups by Lieutenant Colebrooke and Blair's first
settlement in 1789, resulting in a marked reduction of their
population. The four years that the British occupied their initial
site on the south-east of South Andaman were sufficient to have
decimated the coastal populations of the groups referred to as Jarawa
by the Aka-bea-da ..."
^ Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Francesco Cavalli-Sforza (1995), The
Great Human Diasporas: The History of Diversity and Evolution, Basic
Books, ISBN 0201442310, http://books.google.com/books?id=ApuuiwUkEZ0C,
"... Contact with whites, and the British in particular, has virtually
destroyed them. Illness, alcohol, and the will of the colonials all
played their part; the British governor of the time mentions in his
diary that he received instructions to destroy them with alcohol and
opium. He succeeded completely with one group. The others reacted
violently ..."
^ Paramjit S. Judge (1992), Insurrection to Agitation: The Naxalite
Movement in Punjab, Popular Prakashan, ISBN 8171545270,
http://books.google.com/books?id=HvYpVtBXw5kC, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... The Santhal insurrection in 1855-56 was a consequence of the
establishment of the permanent Zamindari Settlement introduced by the
British in 1793 as a result of which the Santhals had been dispossesed
of the land that they had been cultivating for centuries. Zamindars,
moneylenders, traders and government officials exploited them
ruthlessly. The consequence was a violent revolt by the Santhals which
could only be suppressed by the army ..."
^ The Indian Journal of Social Work, Department of Publications, Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, 1956, v.59, http://books.google.com/books?id=q0c0AAAAIAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... Revolts rose with unfailing regularity and
were suppressed with treachery, brute force, tact, cooption and some
reforms ..."
^ Roy Moxham (2003), Tea, Carroll & Graf Publishers, ISBN 0786712279,
http://books.google.com/books?id=FAiHU5JSYwwC, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... many of the labourers came from Chota Nagpur District ... home to
the Adivasis, the most popular workers with the planters - the '1st
class jungley.' As one of the planters, David Crole, observed:
'planters, in a rough and ready way, judge the worth of a coolie by
the darkness of the skin.' In the last two decades of the nineteenth
century 350,000 coolies went from Chota Nagpur to Assam ..."
^ James Minahan and Leonard W. Doob (1996), Nations Without States: A
Historical Dictionary of Contemporary National Movements, Greenwood
Press, ISBN 0313283540, http://books.google.com/books?id=2yFnAAAAMAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... The Adivasi tribes encompass the pre-
Dravidian holdovers from ancient India ..."
^ Sarina Singh, Joe Bindloss, Paul Clammer and Janine Eberle (2005),
India, Lonely Planet, ISBN 1740596943, http://books.google.com/books?id=Fk8FQa2ZSFQC,
retrieved 2008-11-25, "... Although the northeast states make up just
7.5% of the geographical area of India, the region is home to 20% of
India's Adivasis (tribal people). The following are the main
tribes ... Nagas ... Monpas ... Apatani & Adi ... Khasi ..."
^ a b Moirangthem Kirti Singh (1988), Religion and Culture of Manipur,
Manas Publications, ISBN 8170490219, http://books.google.com/books?id=doQeAAAAMAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... The Meiteis began to think that root cause
of their present unrest was their contact with the Mayangs, the
outsider from the rest of India in matters of trade, commerce,
religious belief and the designation of the Meiteis as caste Hindus in
the Constitution of India. The policy of reservations for the
scheduled castes and tribes in key posts began to play havoc ..."
^ Man, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland,
1972, v.7, http://books.google.com/books?id=Ou8rAAAAMAAJ, retrieved
2008-11-26, "... Nor, for that matter, does a traits approach to
drawing distinctions between tribe and caste lead to any meaningful
interpretation of social or civilizational processes. Social
boundaries must be defined in each case (community or regional
society) with reference to the modes of social classification, on the
one hand, and processes of social interaction, on the other. It is in
their inability to relate these two aspects of the social phenomenon
through a model of social reality that most behavioural exercises come
to grief ..."
^ Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya (1959), Lōkayata: A Study in Ancient
Indian Materialism, People's Publishing House, http://books.google.com/books?id=AJccAAAAMAAJ,
retrieved 2008-11-26, "... Even the authors of our traditional law-
codes and other works did not know whether to call a particular group
of backward people a caste or a tribe ..."
^ Robert Goldmann and A. Jeyaratnam Wilson (1984), From Independence
to Statehood: Managing Ethnic Conflict in Five African and Asian
States, Pinter, ISBN 0861873548,
http://books.google.com/books?id=DVwiAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... Because the question of what groups are to be given preferences
is constitutionally and politically open, the demand for preferences
becomes a device for political mobilisation. Politicians can mobilise
members of their caste, religious or linguistic community around the
demand for inclusion on the list of those to be given preferences ...
As preferences were extended to backward castes, and as more benefits
were given to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, the 'forward'
castes have ..."
^ a b Col. Ved Prakash (2006), Encyclopaedia of North-east India, Vol#
2, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, ISBN 8126907045,
http://books.google.com/books?id=Z-5T8kpi5tkC, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... An angry mob of Koch-Rajbongshis (KRs) ransacked 4-8-03 the BJP
office, Guwahati, demanding ST status for the KRs ... the KRs have
been demanding the ST status for long, and the Bodos are stoutly
opposed to it ..."
^ "Gujjars enforce blockade; Delhi tense", The Times of India,
2008-05-29,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3082069.cms, retrieved
2008-11-26, "... Gujjars on Thursday blocked road and rail traffic in
the capital and adjoining areas as part of their 'NCR rasta roko'
agitation ... The NCR agitation, called by All India Gujjar Mahasabha,
is in support of the community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status in
Rajasthan ..."
^ "What the Meena-Gujjar conflict is about", Rediff, 2007-06-01,
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jun/01raj4.htm, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... Rajasthan is sitting on a potential caste war between the Gujjars
and Meenas with the former demanding their entry into the Schedule
Tribes list while the Meenas are looking to keep their turf intact by
resisting any tampering with the ST quota ..."
^ Mamta Rajawat (2003), Scheduled Castes in India: a Comprehensive
Study, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 8126113391,
http://books.google.com/books?id=p2wbt1QDTEgC, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... endogamy is basic to the morphology of caste but for its origin
and sustenance one has to see beyond ... D.D. Kosambi says that the
fusion of tribal elements into society at large lies at the foundation
of the caste system; Irfan Habib concurs, suggesting that when tribal
people were absorbed they brought with them their endogamous
customs ..."
^ a b Mohammad Abbas Khan (2005), Social Development in Twenty First
Century, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 8126121300,
http://books.google.com/books?id=1nQZzWJDzjAC, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... in North India, high caste Hindus regard the village as an
exogamous unit. Girls born within the village are called 'village
daughters' and they do not cover their faces before local men, whereas
girls who come into the village by marriage do so ... With Christians
and Muslims, the elementary or nuclear family is the exogamous unit.
Outside of it marriages are possible ... Lineage exogamy also exists
among the Muslim Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir ..."
^ Richard V. Weekes (1984), Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic
Survey, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313246408,
http://books.google.com/books?id=aVdIAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... The preference for in-marriage produces the reticulated kinship
system characteristic of Punjabi Muslim society, as opposed to Hindu
lineage exogamy and preference for marriage outside one's natal
village ..."
^ Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi (2004), South Asian Culture: An
Anthropological Perspective, Oriental Publishers & Distributors,
http://books.google.com/books?id=HwUNAAAAIAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... The tribal communities, by and large, also practise clan exogamy,
which means marrying outside the totemic division of a tribe ..."
^ Georg Pfeffer (1982), Status and Affinity in Middle India, F.
Steiner, ISBN 3515039139,
http://books.google.com/books?id=S_G1AAAAIAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... Elwin documents the strict observance of this rule: Out of 300
marriages recorded, not a single one broke the rule of village
exogamy ..."
^ Rajendra K. Sharma (2004), Indian Society, Institutions and Change:
Institutions and Change, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, ISBN
8171566650,
http://books.google.com/books?id=jBOh24IJ9t8C, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... Among many Indian tribes it is the recognized custom to marry
outside the village. This restriction is prevalent in the Munda and
other tribes of Chhota Nagpur of Madhya Pradesh ... the Naga tribe of
Assam is divided into Khels. Khel is the name given to the residents
of the particular place, and people of one Khel cannot marry each
other ..."
^ John Vincent Ferreira (1965), Totemism in India, Oxford University
Press,
http://books.google.com/books?id=u7EwAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... there is every reason to believe that the inspiration leading to
the formation of exogamous gotras came from the aborigines ..."
^ Monika Böck and Aparna Rao (2000), Culture, Creation, and
Procreation: Concepts of Kinship in South Asian Practice, Berghahn
Books, ISBN 1571819126,
http://books.google.com/books?id=6HZ-UXaU9y0C, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"... Kalasha kinship is indeed orchestrated through a rigorous system
of patrilineal descent defined by lineage exogamy ... Lineage exogamy
thus distinguishes Kalasha descent groups as discretely bounded
corporations, in contrast to the nonexogamous 'sliding
lineages' (Bacon 1956) of surrounding Muslims ..."

^ Thomas R. Trautmann (1997), Aryans and British India, University of
California Press, ISBN 0520205464,
http://books.google.com/books?id=Fu5h2T7dZFEC, retrieved 2008-11-26,
"...The radiating, segmentary character of the underlying genealogical
figure requires that the specifications be unilineal ... we have in
the Dharmasastra doctrine of jatis a theory of ethnogenesis through
intermixture or marriage of persons of different varnas, and secondary
and tertiary intermixtures of the original ones, leading to a
multitude of units, rather than the radiating segmentary structure of
ethnogenesis by fission or descent ..."
^ [3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4071703.stm
^ Todd Scudiere (1997), Aspects of Death and Bereavement Among Indian
Hindus and American Christians: A Survey and Cross-cultural
Comparison, University of Wisconsin - Madison,
http://books.google.com/books?id=gQVlAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-25,
"... the Vedic Aryan was not particularly eager to enter heaven, he
was too much this-worldly oriented. A notion of reincarnation was not
introduced until later. However, there was a concept of a universal
force - an idea of an underlying monistic reality that was later
called Brahman ..."
^ a b S.G. Sardesai (1986), Progress and Conservatism in Ancient
India, People's Publishing House,
http://books.google.com/books?id=kscNAAAAIAAJ, retrieved 2008-11-25,
"... The centre of Rig Vedic religion was the Yajna, the sacrificial
fire. ... There is no Atma, no Brahma, no Moksha, no idol worship in
the Rig Veda ..."
^ Hajime Nakamura and Ronald Burr (1975), Parallel Developments: A
Comparative History of Ideas, Kodansha,
http://books.google.com/books?id=LRErAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-12-12,
"... even in the prehistoric period when the Indo-Aryans and the
Persians formed a single people, they performed sacrifices (Vedic
yajna: Avestan yasna), and that they already had a sacred drink (Vedic
soma: Avestan haoma) ..."
^ Vishwanath S. Naravane (1991), A Cultural History of Modern India:
Nineteenth Century, Northern Book Centre,
http://books.google.com/books?id=QwscAAAAIAAJ, retrieved 2008-12-12,
"... Rama is dark while Sita is fair; Shiva is dark while his
spouse ... Vishnu is described as meghavarnam, 'dark as a cloud' ...
Krishna is Shyama (dark) ..."
^ Brian Schwartz (1986), A World of Villages: A Six-Year Journey
Through Africa and Asia, Crown Publishers, ISBN 0517558157,
http://books.google.com/books?id=o_R_AAAAMAAJ
http://books.google.com/books?id=o_R_AAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-12-12,
"... Vishnu and Shiva are the two main gods in the Hindu pantheon. ...
Two of these human incarnations are themselves worshiped: Rama and
Krishna ..."
^ V. Ramanathan (2004), Hindu Civilisation and the Twenty-first
Century, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN 8172763328,
http://books.google.com/books?id=bbooAAAAYAAJ, retrieved 2008-12-12,
"... Idol Worship: Despite the reverence accorded to the Vedas and the
vedic rites, the most appealing method to the ... Since then popular
Hinduism has been ..."
^ a b Shiv Kumar Tiwari (2002), Tribal Roots of Hinduism, Sarup &
Sons, ISBN 8176252999,
http://books.google.com/books?id=n0gwfmPFTLgC, retrieved 2008-12-12
^ Kumar Suresh Singh (1985), Tribal Society in India: An Anthropo-
historical Perspective, Manohar,
http://books.google.com/books?id=WIAiAAAAMAAJ, retrieved 2008-12-12,
"... Shiva was a "tribal deity" to begin with and forest-dwelling
communities, including those who have ceased to be tribals and those
who are tribals today ..."

^ a b c d e f (P. 4, The Story of Historic People of India-The Kolis)
^ "Shaap to Baali". Archived from the original on 2009-10-24.
http://www.webcitation.org/5kmBveW1V.
^ Thomas Parkhill: The Forest Setting in Hindu Epics.
^ M.S. Golwalkar: Bunch of Thoughts, p.479.
^ JAIN, Girilal: The Hindu Phenomenon. UBSPD, Delhi 1994. Eschmann,
Kulke and Tripathi, eds.: Cult of Jagannath, p.97. Elst 2001
^ Mahabharata (I.31-54) (II.37.47; II.44.21) Elst 2001
^ Kautilya: The Arthashastra 9:2:13-20, Penguin edition, p. 685. Elst
2001
^ Troisi, J: “Tribal Religion”, page 258. Manohar Publishers &
Distributors, 2000.
^ Orans, M: “The Santal A Tribe in Search of a Great Tradition”, page
106. Wayne State University Press, 1965.
^ Troisi, J: “Tribal Religion”, page 259. Manohar Publishers &
Distributors, 2000.
^ [4] http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100224/812/tnl-tribals-appeal-for-separate-religion.html
^ A. Van Exem: “The Mistake, reviewed after a century”, Sevartham
1991. Elst 2001
^ [5] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PMs-snub-to-Maoists-Guns-dont-ensure-development-of-tribals/articleshow/5195740.cms
^ [6] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8343193.stm
^ [7] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tribals-make-poor-progress-stay-at-bottom-of-heap/articleshow/5450938.cms
^ [8] http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091105/main2.htm
^ [9] http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article42968.ece
^ HEUZE, Gérard: Où Va l’Inde Moderne? L’Harmattan, Paris 1993. A.
Tirkey: “Evangelization among the Uraons”, Indian Missiological
Review, June 1997, esp. p. 30-32. Elst 2001
^ "Tribal Protests and Rebellions'
http://www.chhattisgarhnris.com/chhattisgarh_heaven.htm
^ Page 63 Tagore Without Illusions by Hitendra Mitra
^ Sameeksha Trust, P. 1229 Economic and Political Weekly
^ P. 4 “Freedom Movement in Khurda” Dr. Atul Chandra Pradhan
http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/august-2007/engpdf/Page1-11.pdf
^ P. 111 The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad: A Connected Account By
Hyderabad (India : State)
^ P. 32 Social and Political Awakening Among the Tribals of Rajasthan
By Gopi Nath Sharma
^ P. 420 Who's who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh By Sarojini
Regani

Further reading

The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, by R.V.
Russell, 1916 (E book)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22010/22010-h/22010-h.htm
Elst, Koenraad. Who is a Hindu? (2001) ISBN 8185990743
Raj, Aditya & Papia Raj (2004) “Linguistic Deculturation and the
Importance of Popular Education among the Gonds in India” Adult
Education and Development 62: 55-61
Vindicated by Time: The Niyogi Committee Report (edited by S.R. Goel,
1998) (1955)
Tribal Heritage of India, by Shyama Charan Dube, Indian Institute of
Advanced Study, Indian Council of Social Science Research,
Anthropological Survey of India. Published by Vikas Pub. House, 1977.
ISBN 0706905318.
Tribal Movements in India, by Kumar Suresh Singh. Published by
Manohar, 1982.
Tribal Society in India: An Anthropo-historical Perspective, by Kumar
Suresh Singh. Published by Manohar, 1985.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adivasi

Saint Namdeo Maharaj
http://www.namdeoshimpisamaj.org/Saint_Namdeo_Maharaj/Sant_Namdev_Maharaj.asp
Adivasi Coordination Group in Germany (engl. website)
http://www.adivasi-koordination.de/adivasi_english/index.htm
Adivasi Picture Collection at Kamat.com
http://www.kamat.com/database/content/adivasis/

Tribal religions in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Among the 68 million citizens of India who are members of tribal
groups, the religious concepts, terminologies, and practices are as
varied as the hundreds of tribes, but members of these groups have one
thing in common: they are under constant pressure from the major
organized religions.[1]

Major tribal religions

One of the most studied tribal religions is that of the Santhal of
Orissa, Bihar, and West Bengal, one of the largest tribes in India,
having a population estimated at 4.2 million. According to the 1991
census, however, only 23,645 people listed Santal as their religious
belief.[1]


Santhal

According to the Santhal religion, the supreme deity, who ultimately
controls the entire universe, is Thakurji. The weight of belief,
however, falls on a court of spirits (bonga ), who handle different
aspects of the world and who must be placated with prayers and
offerings in order to ward off evil influences. These spirits operate
at the village, household, ancestor, and subclan level, along with
evil spirits that cause disease, and can inhabit village boundaries,
mountains, water, tigers, and the forest. A characteristic feature of
the Sanhthal village is a sacred grove on the edge of the settlement
where many spirits live and where a series of annual festivals take
place.[1]

The most important spirit is Maran Buru (Great Mountain), who is
invoked whenever offerings are made and who instructed the first
Santals in sex and brewing of rice beer. Maran Buru's consort is the
benevolent Jaher Era (Lady of the Grove).

A yearly round of rituals connected with the agricultural cycle, along
with life-cycle rituals for birth, marriage and burial at death,
involves petitions to the spirits and offerings that include the
sacrifice of animals, usually birds. Religious leaders are male
specialists in medical cures who practice divination and witchcraft.
Similar beliefs are common among other tribes of northeast and central
India such as the Kharia, Munda, and Oraon.[1]

Smaller and more isolated tribes often demonstrate less articulated
classification systems of the spiritual hierarchy, described as
animism or a generalized worship of spiritual energies connected with
locations, activities, and social groups. Religious concepts are
intricately entwined with ideas about nature and interaction with
local ecological systems. As in Santal religion, religious specialists
are drawn from the village or family and serve a wide range of
spiritual functions that focus on placating potentially dangerous
spirits and coordinating rituals.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munda

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oraon

Others

Unlike the Santhal, who have a large population long accustomed to
agriculture and a distinguished history of resistance to outsiders,
many smaller tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological
degradation caused by modernization, and their unique religious
beliefs are under constant threat. Even among the Santal, there are
300,000 Christians who are alienated from traditional festivals,
although even among converts the belief in the spirits remains strong.
Among the Munda and Oraon in Bihar, about 25 percent of the population
are Christians. Among the Kharia of Bihar (population about 130,000),
about 60 percent are Christians, but all are heavily influenced by
Hindu concepts of major deities and the annual Hindu cycle of
festivals. Tribal groups in the Himalayas were similarly affected by
both Hinduism and Buddhism in the late twentieth century. Even the
small hunting-and-gathering groups in the union territory of Andaman
and Nicobar Islands have been under severe pressure because of
immigration to this area and the resulting reduction of their hunting
area.[1]

Pressure to convert to Major religions

Some of pressure is intentional, as outside missionaries work among
tribal groups to gain converts. Most of the pressure, however, comes
from the process of integration within a national political and
economic system that brings tribes into increasing contact with other
groups and different, prestigious belief systems. In general, those
tribes that remain geographically isolated in desert, hill, and forest
regions or on islands are able to retain their traditional cultures
and religions longer. Those tribes that make the transition away from
hunting and gathering and toward sedentary agriculture, usually as low-
status laborers, find their ancient religious forms in decay and their
place filled by practices of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, or
Buddhism.[1]

See also

Adivasi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adivasi
Folk Hinduism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_Hinduism

References

^ a b c d e f g "Library of Congress Country Studies". U.S. Library of
Congress (released in public domain). http://countrystudies.us/india/57.htm.
Retrieved 2007-10-06.
Retrieved from

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_religions_in_India"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

Folk Hinduism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Folk Hinduism or Popular Hinduism is the aspect of Hinduism as a folk
religion, i.e. nominal Hinduism mixed with Animist practice, as
opposed to its scholastic or mystical aspects (Brahmanism, Vedanta,
Hindu philosophy). Folk Hinduism is emphatically polytheistic, as
opposed to Brahmanism or Vedantic Hinduism, which emphasize Monism or
Monotheism.

See also

Hindu mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_mythology
Hindu deities
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_deities
Hindu views on monotheism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_views_on_monotheism
Hinduism in Malaysia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Malaysia
Vedda people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedda_people

References

Vineeta Sinha, Problematizing Received Categories: Revisiting ‘Folk
Hinduism’ and ‘Sanskritization’, Current Sociology, Vol. 54, No. 1,
98-111 (2006)
Vineeta Sinha , Persistence of ‘Folk Hinduism’ in Malaysia and
Singapore, Australian Religion Studies Review Vol. 18 No. 2 (Nov 2005):
211-234
Stuart H. Blackburn, Inside the Drama-House: Rama Stories and Shadow
Puppets in South India, UCP (1996), ch. 3: " Ambivalent
Accommodations: Bhakti and Folk Hinduism".
Stuart H. Blackburn, Death and Deification: Folk Cults in Hinduism,
History of Religions (1985).
David N. Gellner, Hinduism. None, one or many?, Social Anthropology
(2004), 12: 367-371 Cambridge University
L. E. Nelson (ed.), Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion and
Ecology in Hindu India, New York (1998).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_Hinduism

Indian Tribes : Indian Religions Tribal

Indian Tribes : Among the 68 million citizens of India who are members
of tribal groups, the Indian tribal religious concepts, terminologies,
and practices are as varied as the hundreds of tribes, but members of
these groups have one thing in common: they are under constant
pressure from the major organized religions. Some of this pressure is
intentional, as outside missionaries work among tribal groups to gain
converts. Most of the pressure, however, comes from the process of
integration within a national political and economic system that
brings tribes into increasing contact with other groups and different,
prestigious belief systems. In general, those tribes that remain
geographically isolated in desert, hill, and forest regions or on
islands are able to retain their traditional cultures and religions
longer. Those tribes that make the transition away from hunting and
gathering and toward sedentary agriculture, usually as low-status
laborers, find their ancient religious forms in decay and their place
filled by practices of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, or Buddhism.

One of the most studied tribal religions is that of the Santal of
Orissa, Bihar, and West Bengal, one of the largest tribes in India,
having a population estimated at 4.2 million. According to the 1991
census, however, only 23,645 people listed Santal as their religious
belief.

According to the Santal religion, the supreme deity, who ultimately
controls the entire universe, is Thakurji. The weight of belief,
however, falls on a court of spirits (bonga ), who handle different
aspects of the world and who must be placated with prayers and
offerings in order to ward off evil influences. These spirits operate
at the village, household, ancestor, and subclan level, along with
evil spirits that cause disease, and can inhabit village boundaries,
mountains, water, tigers, and the forest. A characteristic feature of
the Santal village is a sacred grove on the edge of the settlement
where many spirits live and where a series of annual festivals take
place.

The most important spirit is Maran Buru (Great Mountain), who is
invoked whenever offerings are made and who instructed the first
Santals in sex and brewing of rice beer. Maran Buru's consort is the
benevolent Jaher Era (Lady of the Grove).

A yearly round of rituals connected with the agricultural cycle, along
with life-cycle rituals for birth, marriage and burial at death,
involves petitions to the spirits and offerings that include the
sacrifice of animals, usually birds. Religious leaders are male
specialists in medical cures who practice divination and witchcraft.
Similar beliefs are common among other tribes of northeast and central
India such as the Kharia, Munda, and Oraon.

Smaller and more isolated tribes often demonstrate less articulated
classification systems of the spiritual hierarchy, described as
animism or a generalized worship of spiritual energies connected with
locations, activities, and social groups.

Indian Religions Tribal concepts are intricately entwined with ideas
about nature and interaction with local ecological systems. As in
Santal religion, religious specialists are drawn from the village or
family and serve a wide range of spiritual functions that focus on
placating potentially dangerous spirits and coordinating rituals.
Unlike the Santal, who have a large population long accustomed to
agriculture and a distinguished history of resistance to outsiders,
many smaller tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological
degradation caused by modernization, and their unique religious
beliefs are under constant threat. Even among the Santal, there are
300,000 Christians who are alienated from traditional festivals,
although even among converts the belief in the spirits remains strong.
Among the Munda and Oraon in Bihar, about 25 percent of the population
are Christians. Among the Kharia of Bihar (population about 130,000),
about 60 percent are Christians, but all are heavily influenced by
Hindu concepts of major deities and the annual Hindu cycle of
festivals. Tribal groups in the Himalayas were similarly affected by
both Hinduism and Buddhism in the late twentieth century. Even the
small hunting-and-gathering groups in the union territory of Andaman
and Nicobar Islands have been under severe pressure because of
immigration to this area and the resulting reduction of their hunting
area.

Christianity in India
The first Christians in India, according to tradition and legend, were
converted by Saint Thomas the Apostle, who arrived on the Malabar
Coast of India in A.D. 52. After evangelizing and performing miracles
in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he is believed to have been martyred in
Madras and buried on the site of San Thomé Cathedral. Members of the
Syro-Malabar Church, an eastern rite of the Roman Catholic Church,
adopted the Syriac liturgy dating from fourth century Antioch. They
practiced what is also known as the Malabar rite until the arrival of
the Portuguese in the late fifteenth century. Soon thereafter, the
Portuguese attempted to latinize the Malabar rite, an action which, by
the mid-sixteenth century, led to charges of heresy against the Syro-
Malabar Church and a lengthy round of political machinations. By the
middle of the next century, a schism occurred when the adherents of
the Malankar rite (or Syro-Malankara Church) broke away from the Syro-
Malabar Church. Fragmentation continued within the Syro-Malabar Church
up through the early twentieth century when a large contingent left to
join the Nestorian Church, which had had its own roots in India since
the sixth or seventh century. By 1887, however, the leaders of the
Syro-Malabar Church had reconciled with Rome, which formally
recognized the legitimacy of the Malabar rite. The Syro-Malankara
Church was reconciled with Rome in 1930 and, while retaining the
Syriac liturgy, adopted the Malayalam language instead of the ancient
Syriac language.

Throughout this period, foreign missionaries made numerous converts to
Christianity. Early Roman Catholic missionaries, particularly the
Portuguese, led by the Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier (1506-52), expanded
from their bases on the west coast making many converts, especially
among lower castes and outcastes. The miraculously undecayed body of
Saint Francis Xavier is still on public view in a glass coffin at the
Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa. Beginning in the eighteenth century,
Protestant missionaries began to work throughout India, leading to the
growth of Christian communities of many varieties.

The total number of Christians in India according to the 1991 census
was 19.6 million, or 2.3 percent of the population. About 13.8 million
of these Christians were Roman Catholics, including 300,000 members of
the Syro-Malankara Church. The remainder of Roman Catholics were under
the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. In January 1993, after
centuries of self-government, the 3.5-million-strong Latin-rite Syro-
Malabar Church was raised to archepiscopate status as part of the
Roman Catholic Church. In total, there were nineteen archbishops, 103
bishops, and about 15,000 priests in India in 1995.

Most Protestant denominations are represented in India, the result of
missionary activities throughout the country, starting with the onset
of British rule. Most denominations, however, are almost exclusively
staffed by Indians, and the role of foreign missionaries is limited.
The largest Protestant denomination in the country is the Church of
South India, since 1947 a union of Presbyterian, Reformed,
Congregational, Methodist, and Anglican congregations with
approximately 2.2 million members. A similar Church of North India has
1 million members. There are 473,000 Methodists, 425,000 Baptists, and
about 1.3 million Lutherans. Orthodox churches of the Malankara and
Malabar rites total 2 million and 700,000 members, respectively.

All Christian churches in India have found the most fertile ground for
expansion among Dalits, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribe groups
During the twentieth century, the fastest growing Christian
communities have been located in the northeast, among the Khasis,
Mizos, Nagas, and other hill tribes. Christianity in India offers a
non-Hindu mode of acculturation during a period when the state and
modern economy have been radically transforming the life-styles of the
hill peoples. Missionaries have led the way in the development of
written languages and literature for many tribal groups. Christian
churches have provided a focus for unity among different ethnic groups
and have brought with them a variety of charitable services.

LOC . 1995 data

Tribal Religions
India Table of Contents
Among the 68 million citizens of India who are members of tribal
groups, the religious concepts, terminologies, and practices are as
varied as the hundreds of tribes, but members of these groups have one
thing in common: they are under constant pressure from the major
organized religions. Some of this pressure is intentional, as outside
missionaries work among tribal groups to gain converts. Most of the
pressure, however, comes from the process of integration within a
national political and economic system that brings tribes into
increasing contact with other groups and different, prestigious belief
systems. In general, those tribes that remain geographically isolated
in desert, hill, and forest regions or on islands are able to retain
their traditional cultures and religions longer. Those tribes that
make the transition away from hunting and gathering and toward
sedentary agriculture, usually as low-status laborers, find their
ancient religious forms in decay and their place filled by practices
of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, or Buddhism.

One of the most studied tribal religions is that of the Santal of
Orissa, Bihar, and West Bengal, one of the largest tribes in India,
having a population estimated at 4.2 million. According to the 1991
census, however, only 23,645 people listed Santal as their religious
belief.

According to the Santal religion, the supreme deity, who ultimately
controls the entire universe, is Thakurji. The weight of belief,
however, falls on a court of spirits (bonga ), who handle different
aspects of the world and who must be placated with prayers and
offerings in order to ward off evil influences. These spirits operate
at the village, household, ancestor, and subclan level, along with
evil spirits that cause disease, and can inhabit village boundaries,
mountains, water, tigers, and the forest. A characteristic feature of
the Santal village is a sacred grove on the edge of the settlement
where many spirits live and where a series of annual festivals take
place.

The most important spirit is Maran Buru (Great Mountain), who is
invoked whenever offerings are made and who instructed the first
Santals in sex and brewing of rice beer. Maran Buru's consort is the
benevolent Jaher Era (Lady of the Grove).

A yearly round of rituals connected with the agricultural cycle, along
with life-cycle rituals for birth, marriage and burial at death,
involves petitions to the spirits and offerings that include the
sacrifice of animals, usually birds. Religious leaders are male
specialists in medical cures who practice divination and witchcraft.
Similar beliefs are common among other tribes of northeast and central
India such as the Kharia, Munda, and Oraon.

Smaller and more isolated tribes often demonstrate less articulated
classification systems of the spiritual hierarchy, described as
animism or a generalized worship of spiritual energies connected with
locations, activities, and social groups. Religious concepts are
intricately entwined with ideas about nature and interaction with
local ecological systems. As in Santal religion, religious specialists
are drawn from the village or family and serve a wide range of
spiritual functions that focus on placating potentially dangerous
spirits and coordinating rituals.

Unlike the Santal, who have a large population long accustomed to
agriculture and a distinguished history of resistance to outsiders,
many smaller tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological
degradation caused by modernization, and their unique religious
beliefs are under constant threat. Even among the Santal, there are
300,000 Christians who are alienated from traditional festivals,
although even among converts the belief in the spirits remains strong.
Among the Munda and Oraon in Bihar, about 25 percent of the population
are Christians. Among the Kharia of Bihar (population about 130,000),
about 60 percent are Christians, but all are heavily influenced by
Hindu concepts of major deities and the annual Hindu cycle of
festivals. Tribal groups in the Himalayas were similarly affected by
both Hinduism and Buddhism in the late twentieth century. Even the
small hunting-and-gathering groups in the union territory of Andaman
and Nicobar Islands have been under severe pressure because of
immigration to this area and the resulting reduction of their hunting
area.

Source: U.S. Library of Congress

http://countrystudies.us/india/57.htm

http://www.indianchild.com/indian_religions_tribal.htm

Most Recent Messages

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Reply Message #1142 of 1142 < Prev | Next >

Dear Friends

Please see the Tribal calender 2009 & Tribal knowledge complex in

http://www.sakti.in/tribal_calendar.html

http://www.sakti.in/tribal_culture.htm

Sivaramakrishna

SAKTI A voluntary organization working for the welfare of tribals and
conservation of natural resources

Dr.P.Sivaramakrishna & P.Sarada Devi,
305, 1st Block, Janapriya Abodes,
Gandhinagar, Hyderabad -500 080,
India, ph: 040 - 66614787 (o) 66627893 (r)
9441427977 9391077079
visit: www.sakti.in
email: ***@..., ***@...

A new book about Paniyas tribe

For everyone who is interested in tribal peoples issues i suggest a
new book about Paniya tribe of Kerala: "My life among the Paniyas of
the Nilgiri Hills" by Hans-Henning Muendel. For additional
informations you can go to the author's website: http://www.henningpaniyas.ca
where you can also order the book.

Stefano Ferrarini - Italy

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tribal-India/message/1140

Dear Friends ,

Forwarding the text of the online petition for the release of Dr.
Binayak
Sen who has been arrested by the Chattishgarh government .The
signature
petition is hosted at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Binayak/.

Do sign.

bye
Sudipto

Subject: Safety and liberty of Dr. Binayak Sen, General Secretary of
the
Chhattisgarh PUCL and Vice-President of the National PUCL who has been
imprisoned.

Respected Sirs,

This letter is to request your good offices on behalf of a very
respected
and beloved old student of Christian Medical College, Vellore who has
been
imprisoned this afternoon (May 14, 2007) at Bilaspur for activities in
defense of the rights and liberties of tribal people in Chhattisgarh.

His name is Binayak Sen. He had a distinguished academic career in
Vellore, graduating in Medicine and later acquiring an M.D. in
Paediatrics. From 1976 to 1978, he was a faculty member at the Centre
for
Social Medicine and Community Health at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University,
New Delhi. He left his academic appointment to work in a community
based
rural health centre in Hoshangabad district of M.P. focusing on
problems
of tuberculosis. During the late seventies, he became an active member
of
the Medico Friend Circle, a national organization of health
professionals
working towards an alternative health system responsive to the needs
of
the poor. This involvement continues till today.

Binayak worked with mine workers in Dalli Rajahara towards addressing
their health needs, helping them set up and manage their own Shaheed
Hospital. When this hospital no longer required his leadership,
Binayak
moved to a mission hospital in Tilda where he worked in Paediatrics
and
Community Health. After the death of Shankar Guha Niyogi with whom he
was
closely associated, Binayak moved to Raipur. From 1991, he has worked
in
developing relevant models of primary health care in Chhattisgarh. He
was
a member of the state advisory committee to initiate the community
based
health worker programme across Chhattisgarh, now well known as the
Mitanin
programme. He also gives his services to a weekly clinic in a tribal
community in Dhamtari district. He continues to provide health care to
the
children of the marginalised, especially the migrant labourers. In
recognition of his work, the Christian Medical College, Vellore
conferred
on him the Paul Harrison Award in 2004, which is the highest award
given
to an alumnus for distinguished service in rural areas. He continues
to be
an inspiration to successive generations of students and faculty.

Binayak has been active and effective in defending the liberties of
the
disadvantaged, especially through the Peoples Union for Civil
Liberties
(PUCL). He has served as the General Secretary of the State PUCL
Committee
for the past five years and as Vice President of the National
Committee
for the last three years. As General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh
PUCL,
he helped organize fact finding campaigns into human rights violations
in
the state including custody deaths, fake encounters, hunger deaths,
dysentery epidemics and malnutrition. In recent times he has worked
intensively to bring large scale oppression and malgovernance within
the
so called Salwa Judoom in Dantewara to national and international
attention.

One of the individuals being defended by the PUCL in Chattisgarh is
Mr.
Piyush Guha, presently in police custody. This in turn has led to
threats
and allegations against Binayak. He is being accused of absconding and
of
channeling illicit communications. We are anxious for the safety and
well
being of this beloved and respected student of ours.

We request you to employ your good offices to ensure that Dr. Binayak
Sen
is not subjected to mistreatment, continued unlawful imprisonment or
worse. The instruments of the government failed to save the life of
his
mentor Niyogi. It will be a grievous failure if they do not now ensure
the
safety and dignity of Binayak Sen.

Respectfully submitted by,

Sincerely,

Sudipto Muhuri
Research Fellow
Theory Physics Division
Raman Research Institute
C.V.Raman Avenue
Sadashivanagar off: 080-23610122(Ext 381)
Bangalore-560080 res: 080-23316690(Ext 25)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tribal-India/message/1138

...and I am Sid Harth