A few words for our Hindutvavadi friends

By

V.S.Godbole, England

Introduction

We Hindutvavadis are concerned about the fate of the Hindus. Despite the attempts of the Congress Party over last fifty years to secularise us, there are still many of us left. This is evident from today's gathering. We all continue our efforts for the good of the Hindu Nation. However, it seems that we have not succeeded to the extent we should or become as effective as we easily could. I think time has come to ask the question - why?

In answer to this question, I wish to narrate some of my experiences. I would like to make one thing quite clear. It may seem that I am criticising some persons, directly or indirectly. But this is not the case. Persons are named only when naming could not be avoided. And after all, we Hindus have the same virtues and deficiencies.

1 Taj Mahal

1.1 Taj Mahal Slides

I started my historical research in 1978, after reading Mr P N Oak's book " Taj Mahal is a Hindu Temple-Palace" My own research paper on Taj Mahal entitled

" Taj Mahal: Simple Analysis of a Great Deception" was ready in April 1980. I sent copies to most Professors of Architecture in Britain. Prof Christopher Riley of Nottingham University replied on 1 May. He asked if I could deliver a lecture on the subject. Then I suddenly realised that we need a set of good slides for such a lecture. Mr P N Oak used to live in New Delhi. One of his neighbours, an Architect and a Sanskrit scholar, was due to come to Leeds University for a course, few months later. This was indeed a wonderful coincidence. I wrote to this Architect, explained to him the situation and pleaded him to bring a set of good slides. Universities in Britain start the academic year in September. Our friend had plenty of time. He has a camera and is interested in photography. But four months after having come here he did not bother to contact me. And when he met me by a mere chance, he said," I did not bring any slides. When my wife comes here she would bring the slides." In the end she did not come. When he left for India in August 1981 this friend promised me to send the slides. But such empty promises are not new. Once these people go back to India they suddenly become busy and just do not have time to write to persons like me. But should they require any assistance, they suddenly find time, their difficulties vanish overnight and we receive letters saying," please do such and such work for me at all cost and with all possible speed." This Architect behaved in just the same fashion.

In July 1983, he wrote to me saying that he had written a book on " Forts and Palaces of India". It would get a wider publicity if it was reviewed in the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Could I help to get his book reviewed? Of course, at the same time he had to say that he would provide the slides of Taj Mahal which he should done three years earlier. He too wanted such slides. Besides he wanted to take some photographs. So by 14 September 1983 I sent him twelve film rolls of Kodacolour. I also sent him a file containing details of the slides that I required.

In due course I got his book reviewed in the Journal of the RIBA. Twenty two years have passed. No slides! No letter!! As if this was not enough even the file containing details of slides to be taken, which I had painstaking prepared, was lost by him. The English may be devilish but could we take advantage of the opportunity they did give us? NO. What could I write to Prof Riley?

Do you remember the uproar caused after showing of the documentary film -

Death of a Princess on British TV? British Ministers had to beg the Saudis for forgiveness so that their British business did not suffer and its oil supplies were not affected. This humiliation was deeply resented by all the Britons and because of this two letters challenging the validity of the Taj legend were published in the Journal of the RIBA. Mr P N Oak's letter in June 1980, under the title "Taj Mahal is Not Muslim" My letter with the title "The origin of the Taj Mahal" was also published in their issue of September 1980.

After reading these, one Mrs Debroah Hunt wrote to me. She was President of the Bedford branch of the RIBA. This branch holds meetings every two months. I was invited as a guest for their meeting of 19 February 1981. At that meeting one gentleman showed beautiful slides of the Bavarian Baroque Churches. As I did not have a similar set of slides of Taj Mahal I could not ask Mrs Hunt to give me a similar opportunity.

Just four months earlier a friend Bhupendra Patel had gone to India. Mr P N oak and some twenty members of the Institute for Rewriting Indian History accompanied him on a tour of monuments in Delhi and Agra. He had a camera and some film rolls. Mr Oak knew how my work was hindered by the lack of slides showing some important details of Taj Mahal. And yet he did not induce Bhupendra Patel to take the necessary slides. Another opportunity was lost and they are very hard to by.

Few months after meeting Mrs Hunt, my father died. I therefore went to India in December 1981.1 wrote to a friend in Delhi and suggested that it will be extremely valuable to have a good photographer accompany me when I visit places in Delhi and Agra. He had been a friend of Mr Oak for more than 20 years. He replied, "For photographer, please write to Mr Oak." He could have easily talked to Mr Oak on phone and arranged a photographer, but look how unhelpful he was. He was Head of one of the departments in All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Mr Oak accompanied me on a tour of Delhi, but I had to go to Agra on my own.

A friend came from Kanpur to meet me at Agra. Photography is his hobby. He came to Taj Mahal with his camera, telephoto lens and other photographic attachments. He said to me," I am using a new type of film. One can have either slides or photographs from it." I did not much interest in photography as my wife is good at it. I therefore trusted my friend and did not use my camera much. After returning to England I got the films developed and realised that my friend was misinformed. I only got photographs from the films. To prepare slides from them would have been very expensive. I could not afford to make a second visit to Agra. I wrote to my friend from Kanpur and explained the situation, but he never went to Taj Mahal again. In a letter of 11 October 1982 he wrote to me " Let us drop the idea of going to Taj Mahal and taking slides " And that was the end of it!!

In 1982," Festival of India" was held in Britain. As soon as it was revealed that it was sponsored by Government of Britain (which pro-Muslim) and Government of India (which is anti-Hindu) I knew that much emphasis would be laid on Muslim rulers and the so called Islamic Architecture.

I did raise my voice at their functions held in Victoria and Albert Museum. But suppose the Director of the Museum had thrown down the gauntlet and challenged me to do a side-show on Taj Mahal, what could I have done? I would have been forced to keep quiet for lack of slides.

23 years have now passed. But the situation has not changed. My staunch Hindu comrades in India just can't appreciate that they can go to Taj Mahal several times, but I can't.

1.2 Visit to Tejo Mahalaya ( Taj Mahal)

Let us set aside the slides. After the research of Mr Oak and myself, one would have thought that the Hindutvavadis would flock to Taj Mahal and be excited to see it as a Hindu Temple/Palace. But quite the opposite is true. I was stunned by my experience.

When I visited Taj Mahal in December 1981, my friends who met me there, were under the impression that it could be seen in half a day and then we could easily see the Red Fort which is nearby and on the next day we could go to Fatehpur Sikri and even to Bateshwar! I said to them," Let us first see Taj Mahal in detail. If any time is left we can, by all means, see the other monuments." The first day passed. We had not seen half of Taj Mahal. And yet we spent no time on meals or even a cup of tea. Next day went the same way even though we started at 8 o'clock. We still had not seen Taj Mahal completely. It is then that my friends realised how much there is to see. As we all had made our railway reservations for our return journey on that day, we had to end our visit there.

One of the friends who accompanied me had prepared a Tourist Guide to Taj Mahal. But it needed extensive revisions. After coming back to England I sent him all the necessary information for the revisions. I wrote," Please get the guide modified, get it typed and send me a copy. You have started this work, so you should get the credit." Six months passed. I received no reply (this is the usual experience) Eventually I set aside my research work, spent four months and completed the Tourist Guide myself.

More than 23 years have passed since my Tourist Guide was ready. But as yet none of my friends in Bombay-Thane-Pune area have gone to Agra and seen Taj Mahal with my guide. They seem to think that it will bring the world to an end. They have time and money to go anywhere else. Thus in 1984 they went to America to attend the International Sanskrit Conference (or so they say), in 1985 they went to Jinji Fort in Tamilnadu. Next year they went on a tour of Kutch and Kathiawad. In 1987 they went to Holland. A tour of Karnatak was organised in 1988. Going to China or Japan, even going on world tours is no problem for them. But going to see the Taj Mahal? Good heavens, NO.

When some of them came to London in 1987 I arranged a get together. I showed them the slides of Taj Mahal that I had. The show went on for three hours. They all listened with great curiosity and excitement. But still not one of them said," let us go to see Taj Mahal next year."

Now they have the excuse that Government of India has closed to public many sections which were open in the past.

Why do they merely curse the Congress Party and blame the timid Hindu

historians for not accepting that Taj Mahal is a Hindu Temple/Palace?

A well known doctor of Baroda, who used to write regularly for the "Organiser" weekly of New Delhi, came to England in May 1987. He and his wife stayed with us for two days. He was President of Rotary Club of Baroda at that time. I gave him a copy of my guide to Taj Mahal and requested him to persuade a group of important persons of Baroda to visit that monument. That did not happen. He himself did not go there and I am quite sure he never will. That is the things he just can't do. Ask him to organise a tour of America for the same persons. He would have no problem. So, why merely blame Gandhi and Nehru?

1.3 Taj Mahal: Simple Analysis of a Great deception

My research paper on Taj Mahal was ready when I went to Pune in 1981. Before my return back to England, I asked one of my relations if he could give me an estimate of cost of publishing it. Few weeks later I received a reply, "Mr so and so has broken his arm." But that had not prevented his daily routine. As an experienced publisher he could have easily told me, the minimum number of prints and the total costs. I did not want him to do the work free, but once he had the excuse of having broken his arm, he never gave me the information.

2 Veer Savarkar Birth Centenary

2.1 no celebrations!

In 1983, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (U K) behaved as if they never heard the name of Veer Savarkar. On 30 and 31 July 1983 they held their annual session in llford (Essex). No homage was paid to Savarkar even though 1983 happened to be his birth centenary year. No programmes were arranged in that year, for that occasion. RSS (HSS) in U.K. too behaved similarly.

Maharashtra Mandal (London) also did noting. Mrs Bhave and Mrs Nitsure, two ladies from Bombay stopped in London in April 1983, on way to see their relations in America. It was then that someone hurriedly arranged a programme on one Wednesday evening. The time was so inconvenient that it was impossible for those outside London to attend.

I asked a Bengali friend in America if they had organised any programmes there to celebrate Savarkar's Birth Centenary. He said " yes " and sent me a cutting from one of the newspapers run by Indians settled in America. It contained nothing but a report on the programmes of Mrs Bhave and Mrs Nitsure. Now, my friend does not understand Marathi and those two ladies speak only Marathi. So, how did he know what they said? Thus, even in year of his birth centenary, Savarkar's work remained known only to the Marathas.

I was utterly dismayed and disgusted by this situation. With the help of my friend Mr Sonapatki I formed a committee to celebrate the birth centenary of Veer Savarkar. Time was running out but we still decided to hold three public meetings. Mr Bhaskarrao Gadre, the RSS chief of Pune (Poona) who was in London, arranged the meetings. I delivered lectures at Birmingham (29 April 1984) Leicester (13 May) and Manchester (20 May). My involvement in Savarkar Birth Centenary celebrations brought me in close contact with many staunch Hindus and I was very distressed by my experience.

2.2 Vande Mataram

Even in the early 1960s " Vande Mataram " used to be broadcasted at the end of every school day. It also used to be sung at the end of public functions. But during the secularised reign of the Congress Party this famous national song has been made extinct. Veer Savarkar birth centenary was an excellent opportunity to revive this immortal song. As I did not have the full text I wrote to several Hihdutvavadis and asked them to send me the full text. No one obliged. By sheer chance I came across an old annual report of the Hindu Mahasabha. Vande Mataram was printed in full on the back cover. It was too late for the programme at Birmingham. However, at Leicester, to everyone's surprise, full Vande Mataram was sung by youngsters who have never been to India. At Manchester, Dr Godbole's wife prepared a group of twelve ladies and they all sang the whole Vande Mataram beautifully. But what help did I get from the Hindutvavadis? None! They think that by cursing the Congress Party every now and then, they are serving the Hindu Nation.

2.3 Slides on Savarkar

From a paper cutting I came to know that the Savarkar Memorial Committee of Bombay had produced a set of slides depicting the life of Savarkar. That would have been very useful to us. So I wrote to a staunch Hindu friend. I asked him to find out some details e.g. number of slides, the episodes on them, quality, total cost of the set (including postage to England). He replied," you better ask the questions to Savarkar Memorial Committee."

How helpful! My friend's address? c/o Savarkar Sadan, Bombay.

2.4 Savarkar's biography and his books

The British hate Savarkar enormously even today. Any small public library will have the biographies of Gandhi, Nehru and Vijayalaxmi Pandit (Nehru's sister). To that are now added the biographies of Indira Gandhi and even Rajiv Gandhi. But biography of Savarkar would not be found even in the top four libraries.

Dhananjay Keer's biography of Savarkar," Savarkar and his times " was first published in 1950. He revised and extended it in 1966. I requested our Local Public library to obtain a copy of the extended biography. There is a copy in the School of Oriental and African Studies, only because some Hindu donated it to the School. But as it was the only copy I had to refer to it in the Library. I could not take it home for reading at my convenience. The famous India Office Library does not have a copy of the extended biography, even for reference there. They only have one copy of the 1950 edition.

Saddened by this situation I thought that if we could obtain some copies of this biography and other books by Savarkar, in English these could be presented to some important libraries in Britain and made available at least to the scholars studying there. Accordingly I wrote to my staunch Hindu friends in India. Once again, experience of their behaviour was exactly the same as described earlier.

Savarkar's books are not sensational, saucy, sexy novels. Once an edition is printed the copies are not sold for twenty to thirty years." Out of print" does not mean " Out of stock". But who would take the trouble of going to big bookshops in few major cities and send me those books? No one. I always make it clear that I will pay all the expenses for any favours that I ask. So it was not money. It was sheer lethargy.

A friend who lives just two streets away from Savarkar- Sadan wrote," the English edition of Keer's book is out of print but its Marathi translation is available. Are you interested? " Now, how were my non-Maharashtrian friends going to read this Marathi translation ? This friend was then the General Manager of Bharat Electronics, Pune. Some others who replied, said, " Savarkar's biography by Dhananjay Keer is out of print." The sad fact was that the copies of this biography were still available. One Mr Shankar Joshi of London obtained a copy even five years later (February 1989) when he was in Bombay.

After a lot of correspondence I received a surprise. Mr Bhatia, the proprietor of Rajdhani Granthagar of New Delhi wrote," I have six copies of Savarkar's famous book : Indian War of Independence 1857 and I assure you that I will keep these copies for you." The question was how to bring those copies over to England. I could not take the risk of losing or damaging them in post.

By sheer chance a Bengali friend from America then stopped in London. He was on his way to Calcutta via New Delhi. When I met him I explained to him the situation and he agreed to collect the copies for us. But when he went to Delhi he did not go to Rajdhani Granthagar. And on his return journey he did not go to Delhi at ail. He travelled to London via Bombay. He did not have the slightest remorse for letting me down. I was very frustrated.

A teacher from Southend on Sea was going to India during the school holidays. He said," I will be going to Delhi. I will collect the copies for you." Once again my hopes rose high. The last programme of the Savarkar Birth Centenary Committee was to be held in one of the committee rooms of the House of Commons of the British Parliament on 6 June 1984. When one week was left there was stil! no sign of this friend. I rang his wife, only to find out that he was coming back towards the end of June 1984. And when he eventually arrived he did not bring those copies. No. He said,"! did not go to Delhi. Why don't you get the books by post ? " What a help! And that too from a person who had been a RSS worker for more than forty years.

2.5 Savarkar's Literature

Because of all the above activities I came in close contact with Balarao Savarkar, who was private secretary of Veer Savarkar during 1950-66. He has the publication and copy rights of all of Savarkar's books. When I read those books I was very disappointed. Balarao has accepted several of my suggestions of improvements and made some changes in presentation. But the state of affairs is very depressing.

Without Savarkar (and his elder brother Babarao) there would be no Hinduism left. It was he who rejected cheap popularity and declared that we Hindus are a nation and that he would fight for the legitimate rights of Hindus. His views must be properly presented. Here are some of my comments.

2.5.1 Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History

Sometime in 1981, I saw this book in the School of Oriental and African Studies, and I was shocked. On the first page there is a photograph of Savarkar, on the next page we read about Chandragupta Maurya. No preface. No forward. No explanation. Nothing! I complained strongly to Balarao Savarkar.

The second edition was published in 1985. It contains a Publisher's Note, A Word in Confidence by the translator Mr S T Godbole and Preface to the second edition also by S T Godbole. But the vital information is missing - when did Savarkar deliver the six lectures? how this subject was at the back of Savarkar's mind for several years; where were the articles printed, why did Savarkar decide to write down the epochs himself even at the age of seventy, how it was impossible to find a publisher for the fear of the wrath of secularised Congress Government and what is the significance of the subject matter. Surely Balarao does not want to keep this information secret! Even the date of publication is not given. Savarkar's birth centenary had already passed. So why was this information not given in the second edition?

2.5.2 Seventh glorious epoch

In addition to the six glorious epochs so vividly portrayed by Veer Savarkar, a seventh glorious epoch was discovered by Vinodkumar Mishra of Prayag. The brief details are as follows -

Muhammad of Gazni attacked Sorti Somnath in Gujrat, for the last time in 1026.

Muhammad Ghori attacked parts of North India in 1192. Why were the Muslims inactive for 166 years? This question is very important.

In 1031, an Iranian Prince attacked Northern India. There were fierce battles over the next two years. In 1033, the Shah of Iran rushed to the help of his son. Forty miles North of Lucknow is a place called Baharaich. On 14 June 1033 the final battle took place. The combined army of the Hindus defeated the Iranian Muslim Army. So severe was the defeat that not one Muslim soldier survived to tell the Iranians that they had lost. They were all wiped out. All the religious places defiled and desecrated by the Muslims were freed and consecrated once again. So terrified were the Muslims in Iran and Afghanistan that they dare not raise a finger against India for six generations. It is interesting to note that the Muslims themselves have recorded this thrilling history.

Had Savarkar been alive today he would have been delighted by this discovery. I had mentioned it in my newsletter of 16 June 1984. It could have easily been included in the" Six Glorious Epochs " in an appendix or as a supplement. Had Balarao told me that the second edition of that book was being, printed I could have easily kept him informed. An excellent opportunity was lost. Why ?

2.5.3 My Transportation for life '

This book was first published in 1927 in Marathi. The English translation by Prof Naik was printed in 1949. The second English edition came out 35 years later i.e. in 1984. This shows how difficult it is to sell Savarkar's. books. And yet the footnotes which have been added to the Marathi edition in 1968 are not seen in the second English edition! why not ?

The photo on the front cover is inexplicable. It shows a man below his waist. His hands and feet tied together by rigid bars. The photo must show a man impersonating Savarkar, from head to toe. It is only then that we can understand the agony of the harsh, inhuman conditions of his prison life. Why was this not done?

Moreover, the preface by Mr S T Godbole seems to have been written for those who knew Veer Savarkar, those who have seen him, those who have been fortunate enough to have attended his thunderous public speeches. But what about those who were born since 1961? In India, the Nehru dynasty has been trying for last forty years to erase any memories of Savarkar. The western powers are doing the same. There are millions of Indians who live outside India and / or are born and brought up there. A priest of Birmingham Hindu temple asked me in November 1988," Who was this Savarkar? " It was not his fault. It is the publisher who must face the reality. The preface must contain a brief life sketch of Savarkar, his contribution to Indian freedom struggle, what was transportation to life to Andaman Islands (Kalapani) really like, how even that very name used to strike terror in the hearts of even the most hardened criminals, how Savarkar overcame all those hardships and turned the wheel around; All this information must be given in two or three pages. We must remember that there are hundreds of thousands Indians who have never been to India.

2.5.4 Savarkar's biography by Dhananjay Keer

I wrote to Mr Keer in December 1983 and asked for the likely date of publication of the second edition of his English biography of Savarkar. He forwarded my letter to the publishers, Popular Prakashan of Bombay. Mr Gokarn replied. He promised that the second edition would definitely be published during the year of Savarkar's birth centenary. That year came and went. There was no sign of the second edition. Once again Mr Gokarn assured me that the biography would be published in three to four months time.

Towards the end of 1987 I wrote to a staunch Hindu friend of Bombay and asked if the second edition of biography was published. He replied," You ask that question to your friend Mr Sonpatki when he returns to London." But he would not say yes or no.

The second edition was eventually published in March 1988. But neither Mr Gokarn nor Balarao Savarkar or any other Hindutvavadi had the civility of informing me. Ironically, it was an anti-Hindu Mahasabha, anti-RSS friend who brought me a copy when he was in Bombay in May 1989!

2.5.5 A leaflet on Savarkar

During the Savarkar Birth Centenary year one gentleman from Madras published a leaflet anonymously, for free distribution to school children. While describing Savarkar's prison life the author says on page 3," ..His health eventually deteriorated and the Government was compelled to transfer him to a prison in India in 1921." What a travesty! What a mockery of the terrible hardships suffered by Savarkar and his elder brother Babarao!

Youngsters who have been taught the twisted Indian History under the rule of secularised congress government will now say," Well, the British Raj was not really that bad. Savarkar's health deteriorated, so he was transferred from the prison on the Andaman Islands to a prison in mainland India. Simple." What a leaflet! And that too by a staunch Hindu ?

2.6 Savarkar's Photograph

Late Mrs Ajibai Banarase was well known to Indians in London, especially Maharashtrians. She was affectionately called " Ajibai" (Grandma) She had converted one of the rooms of her house into a temple, some twenty years ago. As I have always lived outside London I had not visited the temple for a long time. When I went there four years ago I was dismayed. There are some pictures and photographs. There is a picture depicting Draupadi being stripped of her clothes by Dushshasana! Is that the kind of picture that should be displayed in a temple? How come nobody raised any objection so far? No wonder our girls are subjected to humiliations like the virginity tests at Heathrow Airport. There is of course no photograph of Savarkar.

Mrs Banarase died in 1983, One of her sons-in-law Mr Jirapure now owns her house. I met a Hindu priest who knows Mr Jirapure very well. I expressed my unease and he said," Mr Godbole, if you get a good photograph of Veer Savarkar I will get it framed and persuade Mr Jirapure to display it in the temple instead of the scene from Mahabharat." When I met Balarao Savarkar I explained the situation to him. He showed Savarkar's photographs in his collection. Afterwards I enquired elsewhere in Bombay.

Money was no problem. But I did not get a good photograph of Savarkar, not even a black and white one. I had the privilege of seeing him from a small distance, on two occasions, in 1952 and 1956. What a pity I could not get a good photograph of him. The priest died more than 10 years ago.

3 A Special Tour of London

In 1983, I pioneered an idea that a memorial plaque should be erected on the house in London where Savarkar Iived for three years (1906/09). With the help and efforts my friends late Mr Sonapatki and late Mr Pendse the dream was fulfilled. In June 1985 the plaque was erected by Greater London Council. Since 1987 I have been conducting a one day tour of places in London associated with our freedom fighters. But in the last 19 years only 400 people have attended. Surely, the RSS (HSS) has more than triple this number as workers in London alone. Why are they not interested?

* Once a RSS worker was finding excuses for not attending my tour. I said to him, "Look, next year marks 50 anniversary of coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. So with the extra Bank holidays you will be free on 4 consecutive days. Can we plan the tour now?" He would not commit

* In May 1988, in our town Bedford, at a marriage ceremony I met a Maharashtrian doctor whom I had not seen for a few years. He expressed his fear for the future of the Hindu people and cursed the anti-Hindu attitude of the Congress Party in India. I said to him, ".Look here. You have been staying in England for more than 25 years. You have had quite a number of visitors from India in this time. How many of them asked to see the house where Savarkar lived during 1906-09? Have you yourself been to that house? If not what prevents you from doing so? Why curse Gandhi, Nehru and Congress when you are not doing whatever you can do?." Despite this conversation my doctor friend never showed any interest in visiting that house, or any other places associated with the Indian revolutionaries.

* Four months later, I met a Chief Engineer of the Government of Maharashtra. He and his wife had gone to America as tourists. They came to London on their way back to Bombay. I gave them the details of my tour.

On the first day they excused themselves by saying that they were very tired. On the second day they saw London just like any other tourist. On the third day the couple went to the office of Air India to try to go back earlier than planned. They came to London. They had the time and money. But they did not see a single place associated with Savarkar and others. Why should they merely curse Gandhi, Nehru and Congress?. After all, the Congressites do not come from outer space. They are our kith and kin.

* Mr P N Oak came to England in September 1986 to present a paper at the International Archaeology Congress at Southampton. People raised funds for his trip. I made arrangements for his stay. After the conference he stayed with his friend in London. I gave him details of my tour. If Mir Oak was eager I would have taken a day off and showed him those places. But he did not show the slightest bit of interest. So why does he only fume about Gandhi Nehru and others. Did Rajiv Gandhi forbid Oak to visit those places ? No.

* People living in America can make a stop over in London and visit the places on my tour. But so far I have not come across a single person who has shown interest. Of course, if they do visit London, they want to see places like the Buckingham Palace and Madam Tussauds.

4 Hindu Rites and Rituals

Hindus living abroad have a constant anxiety at the back of their minds. Should anything happen to me, would the last rites on me be administered according to Hindu religion? - that is the constant fear. When a person dies suddenly his/her friends and relatives do not know what to do. I myself know at least two such examples. In 1972-73 I used to go to Edinburgh quite often. Once an Engineer friend returned from India. He telephoned his wife from Edinburgh airport and after the conversation died suddenly in the telephone booth. In 1983 a scientist friend of mine also died of heart attack. He went to the kitchen to get a glass of water for his daughter but collapsed there. How to administer the last rites in such cases? I have asked this question several times to many staunch Hindus. But as yet I received no answer whatsoever, even from those in India.

5 Hindu Nationalism : A viewpoint

Shankar Ramchandra alias Mamarao Date was closely associated with Veer Savarkarfora number of years. In 1979, he published an informative booklet in Marathi entitled Hindu Rashtravad - Ek Vichar He explains how the Hindu -Muslim conflict is still not dead in India. In fact there is every sign that Muslims will disintegrate India even further. The booklet is extremely valuable. When I read about it I thought that if I get a copy of the booklet I could translate important portions into English and circulate to my non-Maharashtrian friends. But how to get hold of a copy? Once again I had same bitter experience.

I received a letter from Savarkar-Sadan stating that copies of the booklet were not available. The second edition was published in 1982 and the third one in 1984. And yet nobody sent me a copy. Eventually when I personally met Mamarao in December 1986 I could purchase a copy. Price? Ten rupees! By then it was already translated into English by Prof Korhalkar.

6 Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

This subject is such that it cannot be forgotten. Our powerful enemies will never allow it to be forgotten. And yet we handle the mischievous representation of events by our enemies so badly and fail to expose the truth.

6.1 Distortion by Mrs Pandit

In 1979, Vijaylaxmi Pandit's autobiography, "A Scope of Happiness" was published by Widenfield and Nicolson of London. On page 247 Mrs Pandit says, " ..The frenzy of fanaticism reached a climax when Nathuram Godse, an orthodox Hindu from Maharashtra took the life of Gandhiji (January 1948)......Godse was caught and stood trial for murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and having completed the required minimum number of years, was released a short while ago..."

This falsification is appropriate to a member of the Nehru family. Mrs Pandit wants to create an impression that even the person who killed Gandhi was not hanged by Gandhi's followers (such great was that man), he was sent to prison and was even released recently! Hence the deliberate mix up between Nathuram Godse (who was hanged ) and his younger brother Gopal Godse (who was sent to prison)

I sent a copy of page 247 to Gopal Godse and asked him to write to the publishers and expose the distortion of facts. He agreed to do so in December 1980. I sent him reminders in August 1981, March 1982, June 1982 and December 1982. Eventually I gave up. Six years passed. When this article was published in February 1989 in Sobat (a Marathi weekly of Pune) Gopal Godse woke up and raised the matter with the publishers. They did agree to publish true facts in any future edition. What was achieved in March 1989 could have been achieved eight years earlier. Why did Gopal Godse delay writing for so long?

No explanation, no apology.

6.2 Noakhali Massacre

In October 1946 Bengali Muslims massacred 150,000 Hindu men, women and children in Noakhali and Chittagong.

* In 1996 I appealed to RSS workers in Britain to observe 25th October as a day of remembrance for the Hindu victims of this tragedy. The response was pathetic. Their magazine Sangh Sandesh would not even remind its readers of the tragedy.

Strange enough, at the same time two aeroplanes collided near Delhi and most of the dead were Muslims. Immediately RSS workers rushed to their rescue and even helped with burials of Muslims. Sangh Sandesh immediately proudly published this as a news item!!

Visnupant Karakare one of the co-accused in Gandhi assassination trial had personally been to Noakhali to support the Hindus there. Karakare was a friend of Gopal Godse who was one of the few people who knew the events vividly. I was a boy of 5, but the events made my blood boil. Gandhi used to say, "Even at this stage, I would ask Hindus to get killed but not seek revenge and retaliate." It was Gandhi's attitude to such tragedy that in the end lead to his assassination.

In 1996, Shivasena was powerful in Maharashtra and their daily paper Samana was read throughout the state. I therefore suggested to Godse that he should write at least one article on the subject, reminding the people what had happened and warning them that this could happen again. Samana used to publish Godse's articles regularly. But he did nothing. Yet another opportunity was lost

6.2 Nathuram Godse's testimony

Nathuram's testimony in court in December 1948 was immediately proscribed by Nehru and Patel (the iron man). It was published for the first time in 1977 under the title "May it please your honour" After reading the title, who would imagine that it contains Nathuram's testimony? And yet the title remains the same in the 1978 edition. If the title was " Why I killed Gandhiji?" that would have immediately aroused curiosity worldwide. But that is precisely what the Hindutvavadis do not want. They simply want to curse others. Gopal Godse woke up after my article mentioned in above paragraph and changed the title to Why I assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, by Nathuram Godse. In the meantime 20 years were wasted.

6.3 Story of the Red Fort trial

Late Mr P L Inamdar was lawyer for Dr Parachure of Gwalior, one of the accused in the Gandhi Murder Conspiracy Trial. Though a staunch follower of Gandhiji since boyhood, Inamdar decided to defend Dr Parachure. As the trial proceeded he became disgusted with Gandhism and the Congressites. His book in Marathi came as a bombshell in October 1976. The English edition was published in 1979. I was anxious to get a copy. I could easily get our public library to buy a copy for themselves. All that I needed was the name of the publisher, year of publication and the price. But that was precisely the information that our Hindutvavadi friends would not supply. In my correspondence with a friend I reminded him twenty times over two years and in the end gave up. A Professor of Physics wanted a copy of my research paper on Taj Mahal and in return he sent me a copy of Inamdar's book. But that was a mere fluke.

7 Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)

The U K branch of VHP was started in 1969. Its objectives are given in their publication " Hindu Vishva ". Second objective reads," To cultivate in Hindus... respect for the peoples of all ..religions." In other words the VHP wants to create respect for Christianity and Islam in the minds of Hindus! It does not want to create respect for Hinduism in the minds of Christians and Muslims. (No wonder they did not speak a word about Savarkar during his birth centenary year) After I raised my objection I was assured that the second objective has been deleted. But I am not sure if the VHP America has made that change.

8 Hindu Festivals

The British continue to detest Hindus as they have done for the last three centuries. Today, as in previous decades, various diaries ( big or small) give the dates of Christian, Jewish and Muslim festivals but not Hindu festivals. I know Anne Hoose, editor of the weekly "New Life ". At first she did not believe that Hindu festivals are not mentioned in British diaries. Then I showed her pocket diaries of past few years published by the well known company W H Smith. She was convinced and published a news item entitled " W H Smith please note that millions Hindus do exist". As a result of this, in their pocket diary of 1987 W H Smith explained - We did not get information about the dates of Hindu festivals, while going for printing. Now, who would provide them the necessary information? VHP publishes their calendars every year. So, someone must have the information. One of the senior VHP official was in London. I contacted him several times on phone, without success. When he left for Pune I gave up my efforts.

And who now provides this information to W H Smith? A friend who is anti-VHP,

anti-RSS!! He does this regularly

9 What if ?

It is easy to grumble that we cannot do such and such because we lack authority, power or resources. But what would happen if we do have them. The sad truth is that we still would not be able to make any changes Let us take some examples.

* In 1952/53 some one stole ornaments of a Goddess in Jalamandir temple in Satara (Maharashtra). Anti-RSS Congress government had field day. Three RSS workers were badly beaten up. So savage and brutal was the treatment meted out to them that it would have shamed the S African Police. We read about in papers in Pune when the case came to court. And yet RSS workers in Nagpur did not know about it!! Nagpur is Marathi speaking town and it is the H Q of RSS. What good would they do if they had any power?

* During Indira Gandhi's dreaded Emergency (1975/77) Government of India (GOI) published a booklet denouncing RSS Pracharaks as paedophiles and homosexuals. And these were sent to many former RSS workers. I was astounded to find that the Chief of RSS (HSS) in Britain was blissfully ignorant about the booklet. He simply asked me for a copy of the sake for their record. He would not even spread the news worldwide through RSS network!! Few months later came General Elections in India and Janata Party came to power. Even the papers who had always been anti-RSS admitted that due to its organisational skill RSS helped the Janata Party to come to power. But, did the RSS top brass take advantage of the situation and get GOI to publish a booklet praising the RSS and circulate it throughout the world? Oh no. They did absolutely nothing.

* Dr Hedgewar's birth centenary was celebrated in Britain in 1989. I attended one function in Leicester University. It was shambles. The main speaker could speak neither Hindi nor English. Suppose any British journalists had attended the function. What would they have reported?

* In the 1990s Shiva-sena/BJP came to power in Maharashtra. Through my contacts I made the following suggestions -

(1) Translate the entire works of Savarkar into English and publish it

(2) New History of the Marathas - this was written by G S Sardesai in 1946 as requested by Savarkar. It should be reprinted and widely distributed throughout the world.

(3) A magnificent memorial should be made in the memory of the Maratha King Sambhaji atVadhu Budruk (near Pune). This brave king fought against Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb for nine years and when captured was tortured to death.

I had no response for items 1 and 2 and for number 3. I was told, "You collect money abroad, erect the monument in Pune and then our Minister will come for inauguration. But we cannot do anything.”

Just a few years back V P Singh became a care-taker P.M for 6 months. And yet he sanctioned 70 lakhs of rupees to Jama Masjid, Delhi and Shivasena could do nothing for erecting a fitting memorial to Sambhaji.

* I visited America for the first time in June 2002. I met some RSS workers who did not know much about my work. So they could not organise any functions. I said, "Fine. We are coming to New York next year. Can you arrange any functions then?" They said that they would try. Year 2003 came and went. No sign of any programme. Even after a notice of 1 year, these workers could not organise one function, so why blame others?

10 General lethargy

* Our tricolour flag.

I have a friend who was born and brought up in Glasgow. Once he said to me, "I attend some functions where our national tri-colour flag needs to be hoisted, but I do not have a good one. Can you obtain 2 for me?" He specified the size 6 ft by 4ft and the best quality of cloth.

I wrote my friends in Mumbai / Pune, but no luck. In 2000, I went to Pune for the publication of my book on Savarkar. I went to the nearest Khadi Bhandar and purchased 2 tricolour flags in no time, but my friends could not help me. I had to make a trip to India for such a small work.

* Great deed of Shivaji in 1677.

While reading a biography of Shivaji, I came across an interesting reference. After his dramatic escape from Agra in 1666 Shivaji concluded that a fight between Mughals and Marathas was inevitable. After his coronation, he decided to liberate parts of Southern India from the rule of Pathans. In 1677 he captured the fort of Jinji. He noticed that in Tiruvannamlai, two temples of Lord Shiva (Samottirperumal) were converted into Mosques. Shivaji got them re-converted into Shiva temples. What a great revolution in those days! Though victorious on the battlefield, Hindus would never re-convert Mosques into temples. If Marathas had followed his example we could have solved the Muslim problem in no time. I requested a Professor friend of mine who lives in Madras to visit the two temples, send me photographs and details. Four years passed. He has not visited these temples'! But every week he sends me at least two E Mails blaming Gandhi and Nehru for today's problems.

* Why do you always grumble?

Veer Savarkar was in jail on the Andaman Islands during 1911-21. He soon pointed out to the jail authorities how Muslim Warders and Petty Officers were making life a misery for Hindus prisoners and forcing them to embrace Islam. The Superintendent said, "Mr Savarkar, why do you always complain? Why don't you convert Muslim prisoners to Hinduism?" Savarkar protested, "We Hindus do not believe in forceful conversions. Everyone is free to seek his own salvation." But that would not wash. He accepted the challenge, started shuddhi and then some Muslims had to complain that he was converting Muslims to Hinduism. Savarkar reminded the jail Superintendent of the challenge that he had made. In the end the jail authorities prohibited conversion activities of Muslims.

The same applies to all our complaints. Why do we always grumble?

* What we need is ACTION.

Veer Savarkarwas in internment in Ratnagiri (1924 -37). He could only move within the District of Ratnagiri. He concentrated on Social Reforms as he was not allowed to take part in politics. In 1928 he wrote," We had enough of articles, discussions, debates, meetings and gatherings. Day after day we are wasting time in mere planning. We all know what needs to be done. What we lack is workers who can say," This is what we have done. This is what we have achieved." Thousands of small activities can be carried out by individuals themselves. But everyone is only interested in telling what others should do."

12 Conclusion

Dear readers, I have described the present situation as it is. Only a few examples are given for illustration. I neither bear grudge against any one, nor have I any interest in telling the faults of others. Only those faults which hinder the progress of Hindu Rashtra are mentioned here. We have seen how important works are left incomplete by some minor acts. There is no excuse for that. t do hope that this article will make the Hindutvavadis realise what needs to toe done today.

1906 - 2006.

What tremendous changes were caused, to happen by Savarkar in this century! He came to London in July 2006 when most of our leaders were singing 'God Save the King' (Edward VII). And yet he and his handful of friends said," Glory to our freedom!" Their work spread and eventually we won our independence. Consider Savarkar's life in jail on the Andaman Islands. Despite formidable odds he fought fanaticism of Muslims and won. Then, he was also respected by them.

Why should we despair of today? Why should we feel disheartened?

* I have experienced moments when my forefathers would have been proud of me (I am indebted to my wife Vinita for those). In June 1985 a plaque was fixed on the house in London where Savarkar lived for three years. I initiated the idea and Mr Sonapatki and Mr Pendse saw the scheme through.

> I have been conducting one day tours of London showing places associated with our Freedom fighters. It is my sincerest desire that every Indian coming to London should be more interested in paying homage to Veer Savarkar and his associates in front of 65 Cromwell Avenue, Highgate than visiting Westminster Abbey, be remembering Madanlal Dhingra and Udham Singh in front of Pentonville Prison than seeing the Crown Jewels. Those visiting Paris should be more interested in visiting the houses of Madam Cama, Sardar Rana and Shyamji Krishnavarma than visiting the night clubs. Should this psychological change take place, it would not matter if those tourists do not know who V S Godbole is.

Recently I have found an active gentleman - Dr Agarkar. He attended my Tour twice. I supplied him with my slides. He has now placed them all on a CD and makes shows all over Maharashtra. He has covered various institutions from the Atomic Energy Commission to secondary schools in the remotest parts of Maharashtra. May be one day I will find people who would carry my message in other provinces.

* In the 1990s I was dismayed at the garbage which was being written about Savarkar. After seven years of effort I published my work - Rationalism of Veer Savarkar (in Marathi). The question was - what about millions of non-Marathas? I spent another four years and the English version was published in 2004. I received a letter from Dr Owen of Oxford University asking if I had translated Savarkar's newsletters from London and his book - Inside the enemy camp. I replied, "No. I had only translated only those parts which were required for my book on his rationalism." He requested me to the translations of both into English. I completed those on 28 May 2006. He was very pleased and wrote, "Now we know Savarkar's contribution to Indian freedom struggle."

So, these things are possible. YES. We can make the changes happen. Let us have confidence in ourselves.

My research work - Taj Mahal and the Great British Conspiracy, was published in 1996. It is a formidable piece of work and lists all the information on Taj Mahal for last 200 years. They all point to the fact that Taj Mahal is a Hindu structure and it was NOT built by Shahjahan.

I am in the process of producing a CD on the subject for wider circulation.

* We do get results if we co-operate and concentrate on specific issues. In this year, there were plans for exhibiting paintings by Muslim artist Hussein, depicting Hindu goddesses in the nude. Strong protests by Hindutvavadis in England led to cancellation of display of Hussein's offensive paintings. But we must on the guard all the time. Never for a moment should we think that our adversaries would have changed. If they are defeated today, they are certain to attack tomorrow. Price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Vande Mataram!