INDIAN
INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH INTO TRUE HISTORY
Newsletter
No 23 of
1 News and current affairs
1.1 Taj Mahal and the Great British Conspiracy
A copy of this work (revision 2, 185 pages) was taken to
Mr Godbole has made further revisions and took a copy of revision 3 (282
pages) to
TAJ MAHAL SLIDE SHOW ( IN
* At the request of Mr Amrit Vara, Mr Godbole made a slide show exposing
the falsity of Taj legend. It was held on 26 March at Woolwich Eateri Hotel,
Woolwich. 20 people attended.
TAJ MAHAL SLIDE SHOWS ( IN
During his visit to
|
Rahuri Agricultural University ( Audience of 85 ) |
18 August |
|
|
19 August |
|
( Audience of 25 ) |
21 August |
|
Arya Samaj, Pimpri
( Audience of 15 ) |
22 August |
|
|
27 August |
|
Prof Athavale’s house, Pune
( Audience of 40 for morning show, 50 for evening show ) |
31 August |
1.2 Around
Mr Godbole conducted three tours. The first one was on 4 April. Three
Agricultural Officers from Maharashtra and wives of two of them came to know
about the tour through Dr Acharya, priest of Arya Samaj, Ealing,
The
second tour took place on 8 May. Ten people from Aryasamaj and three engineers
of Mahindra and Mahindra of Bombay, at present working for British Telecom,
attended. The tour lasted till
Third tour was arranged on 9 October specially for Leena Dhingra, a
grand-daughter of one of Madanlal Dhingra’s brothers. Other people were
expected to join, but due to unexpected circumstances only Mr Kulkarni, a civil
engineer from Thames Water Authority, joined. Leenaji recorded Godbole's
narration on tape.
Dr Dhingra, probably the first Indian to become a Civil Surgeon, had
seven sons. They were Kundanlal (the eldest and a businessman), Dr Mohanlal, Dr
Biharilal, Chamanlal, Chunilal, Madanlal
and Bhajanlal (the youngest who attended the meeting at Caxton Hall on
Dr (Mrs) Meena Prabhu, had recently written a book in Marathi entitled
MAZE LONDON or My London. She has shown interest in joining in one of our
tours. So has Dr Arora, Head of Hindi Department, at Indian High Commission,
AROUND
A slide show on the subject was made by Mr Godbole at Arya Samaj,
Ealing,
* Another slide show was made at Mr Sohoni’s house in South Wimbledon,
AROUND
During his visit to
*
( Audience of 55 )
*
( Audience of 15 )
* Savarkar Seva Mandal, Vileparle,
( Audience of 40 )
* Prof Athavale’s house, Pune
31 August
( Audience of 40 for morning
show,
50 for evening show )
At the last show Godbole's 87 year old mother was present. Even at her
age, she climbed three flights of stairs. She was able to see the pictures on
the screen and listen to Godbole’s narration.
1.3 Mr Godbole’s visit to
During his visit Mr Godbole met following men :-
* Mr Shrikrishna Mahadev Behare, a well known building contractor.
* Mr Ninad Bedekar, an industrialist.
He makes slide shows on various forts of
* Mr Premnath Vaidya, who made a documentary on Veer Savarkar on behalf
of Government of India in 1984.
* Mr J.D.Joglekar, a writer and a staunch follower of Savarkar. He wrote
an important book in 1970 entitled bharatatil
yuddhashastrachi upeksha or neglect of study of war tactics, in
Other activities of Godbole :-
* Made 14 slideshows as noted above. The common difficulties encountered
were :-
Sudden illness.
Lack of proper publicity.
Power failures.
Lack of proper facilities, i.e. hall, light, projector, loud speaker.
Unexpected events like strikes.
Lack of planning - there may be other functions on the same day.
* Delivered a lecture on the Falsity
of Indo Saracenic Architecture at Shahu Market, Thane on 28 August. This was
done at the request of Dr Bedekar, who insisted that a beginning has to be made
to explore the subject. 80 people attended. The programme was recorded on tape.
* Attended a meeting of Bharat Itihas Sankalan Samiti on 5 August. He
spoke about the India Office Library in
* Noticed the work of historian Babasaheb Purandare. He has bought part
of Vishrambagwada in Pune and has preserved historical articles. He is also
trying to reconstruct Lal Mail where Shivaji was brought up and where he cut
Shahistekhan's fingures in a daring attack. in 1663.
* Made in important discovery. During his discussions with Dr N K Bhide,
he realised that Muslims DO NOT use coffins
for burial. Coffins are used for carrying the dead bodies. But at the time of
burial the body is taken out. According to Koran, there must be earth on the
left and right, below and above the body! Thus, if the body of Mumtaz was
exhumed, six months after her burial at Burhanpur, it must have been in a badly
decomposed state, and hence unlikely to be removed.
* Visited Vadhu Budruk, where the Maratha king Sambhaji was tortured to
death by Aurangzeb in March 1689. There is a statue of Sambhaji, and a small
memorial by his son Shahu. But there is no information about Sambhaji, his bravery,
his fights with the Mughals for nine years and defiance even when facing
horrible death. There should be three plaques, in English, Hindi and Marathi. To
reach the monument, travel along Pune - Nagar road pass the villages of Vagholi
and Lonikand. At Koregaon Bheema take a left turn. Travel for about 2 miles.
The place can also be reached by Pune Municipal Transport Bus 162.
* Gave copies of Taj Mahal and the
Great British Conspiracy to Prof More of Rahuri, Dr Apte, Mr Behre of Pune
* Gave an interview to San jay Bhalerao, deputy editor of Marathi daily
Lokasatta, of
* Gave copies of newsletter no. 22 to Group Captain Valavade, Prof
Nande, Sanjay Arya (of Arya Samaj, Pimpri) Mr Behre of Pune, Mr Andu Deodhar of
Kolhapur -who works for the student movement ABVP or Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi
Parishad.
* Took slides of some important historical places.
* Obtained from Mr Chinchamalatpure, of
Godbole noticed the following :-
* British Airways make announcements in pure Hindi.
* Road conditions in Pune were much better than at the same time three
years ago.
* Some roads in
* Condition of concrete for some bridge piers in
* There was a Citizen's Charter in Maharashtra Bank,
* There was no shortage of food, vegetables, milk, water, clothing or
any luxury goods.
* There has been a tremendous increase in communications. Even remote
villages have telephones, fax, Xerox facilities, and Star TV. For example, Dr
More lives in Rahuri Khurd, a hamlet of 2,000 people. But he has a telephone
with direct dialling facility, and a Star TV.
* Medical facilities are also expanding rapidly. Mr Raste, one of Mr
Godbole^s old friends had a heart by- pass operation two years ago. When
Godbole^s father-in-law fell ill, a doctor called at home and took an ECG, without
having to go to hospital.
* Thieves of
* There is provision of old age pension.
* Porters are available at railway stations. If you refuse their help
they do not beg.
That is not the picture the BBC or ITV want to depict!
Godbole^s comments :-
* The main problem in
* There must be strict checks on brakes and brakelights on all vehicles.
All the vehicles have very powerful head lights, why should they not have good
brakes and brakelights ?
* Speedbrakers are essential to control speed of vehicles and prevent
accidents. But most of the time these are not visible, and pose a threat to the
drivers and passengers. This must be
changed.
* Bridge parapets must be made strong. At least the footpaths should be
made one foot higher than the adjoining road. The parapets should also extend sufficient
distance beyond the abutments. There is no excuse for un-necessary accidents
for this reason.
* Public Transport is a vital part of the economy. Buses, State
Transport and Railways should not be privatised. Cheap transport is vital.
Efficiency is one thing, privatisation for the sake of ideology is quite
another matter, it is madness.
* Due to lack of good public transport, people want to use their
vehicles, adding to a serious pollution problem. It is a vicious circle.
* There is no separation of smokers and non-smokers in Railway
compartments. This is extremely annoying and unhealthy.
* Discipline in seen at some places. There is no reason why it cannot be
extended elsewhere. For example, while waiting for a bus to Chinchavad all the
passengers stood in a queue and bought their tickets. When the bus arrived some
youngsters who were not in the queue rushed in. The conductor asked them to get
off, and they did. There is good discipline at Dadar station (
* People have started to realise that EVERYTHING is CONNECTED TO
EVERYTHING ELSE. For example, there was a plane crash of Indian Airlines near
Khadaki (
* International Standard for Quality Assuarance ISO 9000 is being
followed, may be for exports. But it involves large volume of un-necessary
paperwork. The Asian countries should come together and decide whether this standard
is really necessary at least for trade between Asian countries.
Veer Savarkar Memorial,
Mumbai (
Mr Godbole visited the memorial on 29 August. He was pleased to know
some of the activities of the Memorial Committee :-
*
Classes in Kung Fu, Karate, Judo etc are held on Saturdays and Sundays.
In fact Karate classes were being held at the time of Godbole's visit
* An Air Rifle Club has been started. Admission fee Rs 50, Basic
Training ( for 12 days ) Rs 70, Fee per month Rs 30
* Seminar on Andaman prisoners.
On the 25th anniversary of self immolation of Veer Savarkar, a seminar
of revolutionaries who were sent to Andaman ( Kalapani ), was held on 26 and 27
February 1991. It should be noted that revolutionaries were sent to Andaman
from 1929 to 1935. Dr V.D.Divekar has being doing research on the subject since
February 1990. He interviewed 71 prisoners and found addresses of another 51.
Most of the revolutionaries are in the 80s and 90s.
* There are annual awards for Bravery and Social Services.
* There is a museum of articles belonging to various revolutionaries,
e.g. First edition of Savarkar's book Indian
War of
1.4 Veer Savarkar's home : A
national monument
Veer Savarkar was born in Bhagur, a village in
Authorities. Savarkar being an anathema to Congress Party successive
governments had refused to return this property back to Savarkar. At last we
understand from our friend Dr More of Rahuri,
1.5 Ramjanma Bhoomi episode
at Ayodhya
The movement to erect a Ram temple at Ayodhya had gathered momentum in
1990. On 9 December 1990 Vivek, a Marathi
weekly of RSS from
Vivek reports, p 18
" Faizabad Cantonment - Families of many army officers and soldiers live
here. Women of the cantonment protested at police atrocities. One such organiser
was Mrs Sushma Dhar, one of her brothers is a Major General, her husband is a
Colonel, her son a lieutenant was recently shot dead in skirmishes with
" VHP also refused compensation for the dead. It will provide
financial assistance to relatives of the dead."
Our comment :- The money did not belong to Mulayam Singh personally, nor
to his political party. It is people's money. It was quite wrong to refuse
compensation. On the contrary the argument should have been, " Why so
little? give Rs 10 lakhs at least for each dead." V.P.Singh the then Prime
Minister of
1.6 Ukrainian Gold
Evening Standard reported on 4
December 1991 :-
" Concern continues to be expressed about the
" Lubomyr Mazur, president of the Ukrainian Association in
" In his last will and testament Poluboyok said that the gold
should be used by his descendants when
Last year the Ukrainians started to make noises for the gold to be
returned. " I believe that there is a descendant in
One wonders how many countries were treated in a similar manner by
1.7 The crescent of Islam
In its editorial Evening Standard
wrote on 10 December 1991 :-
Now that the
Initially, while it still appeared that something like the Soviet Union
would survive the passing of Communism, the Muslim republics seemed willing
enough to retain their links with
Now, however, it is probable that the Islamic republics will copy the Slavic
commonwealth and group themselves into a powerful alliance of states closely
connected with, and economically driven by, the oil-fired engine-room of Islam
to the south of them. Foreign Minister Velayati of Iran recently spent ten days
touring the Muslim republics of the USSR and said that Iran would "
strengthen contacts in every way " with them. At that time he was careful
to say that he considered the republics " an integral part of the
1.8 Problem in
On 21 February 1992 BBC Radio 5 had a discussion on the
1.9 I see no evil
In 1991 Rodney King, a 25 year old black motorist was severally beaten
by Los Angeles Police in California, USA. By sheer chance the beating was
recorded on a video by George Hollidy, a nearby resident who was trying his
camera from a balcony.
At the time of first court hearing, on 25 Fob 91 Sergeant Stacy Koon,
Officers Lawrence Powell, Timothy Wind and Ted Briseno had the audacity to say,
" We are innocent "
On 23 March 1991, even the right wing President Bush remarked " It
was sickening to see the beating that was rendered, and there is no way in my
view to explain that way. It was outrageous."
The case was heard in the
Holliday's video showed that King was repeatedly beaten around the head
and body with batons. But the officers claimed that they had acted in the
course of their duty. During the trial, prosecution suggested that Powell, who delivered
most of the 56 baton blows seen on the videotape, had a racial motive for
beating King. However the jury could not reach a verdict on whether Powell had used
unnecessary force.
Adding to the spectacle provided by the video, an audio had emerged.
Transmissions between the officers in the patrol car reveal one saying to the
other he had not beaten anyone so bad as this in a long time, and another replying
: Not again - I thought you'd agreed to chill out for a while.
The six-man and six-woman jury took seven days to reach their not guilty
verdicts. Judge Stanley Wisberg told them : Your contribution has been much
appreciated.
Thus the whole world saw the
video, but the jury declared the policemen innocent!. Naturally on 29
April 1991 violence erupted on the streets of
[ Our comment :- If this is what can happen when a video cannot convict
the police, what chance is there when no such recording is available ? ]
* Just how impartial were the jurors? TODAY reported on 7 May 1992, " A juror in the Rodney King
trial revealed yesterday she was mocked for wanting to convict the policemen
seen beating him on video."
"Virginia Loya claimed the other jurors had made up their minds
even before deliberations started. Their eyes weren't open - she said- I said
to God, If you could find me just one more person on my side I would know. The
next day one more person did join Mrs Loya and two other holding out for the
conviction of Lawrence Powell on charges of assault. He will be re-tried.
"
"The mother-of-three said jurors made fun of her for wanting to see
the video-tape again and again. At first I said they couldn't make me go along
with them but the pressure was enormous and there were tears in jury room. Every
time I raised a point they argued them away. They already had their minds made
up. "
One night Mrs Loya felt so ostracised she stayed in her hotel room. I
put a towel over my head and cried into it because I didn't want anyone to hear
me. At 10 pm I phoned my husband and he said - just do what you have to do. Mrs
Loya wanted to speak out to show that not all the jurors thought the four
officers were innocent."
"If the trial was held again I'd hold out longer – she said. She
was also convinced that officer-in-charge Stacey Koon was guilty, but not the
other two, Tim Wind or Ted Brisento. "
* The Independent of 23 March
1991 reported, " The Los Angeles beating has highlighted several other
similar cases throughout the
"In the three weeks since the beating, nobody in
12.30 a.m. off a
* The Independent reported on
26 June 1992, " L.A considering cash settlement for King....... The
proposed settlement is likely to be the highest ever paid out by
[ So much for the American justice system today. What kind of justice
was done to the minorities say 100 or even 60 years ago?]
The police officers were eventually tried by the Federal Government for
violating King's civil rights. Some were found guilty.
1.10
A seminar on
GOOD POINTS
2. Dr Sanghavi quoted Lord Buddha's comment. He said "If you want
to cross a river you require a boat. But when you reach the shore, the boat is
of no use. For travelling on land you need a different kind of transport - a
car, a bicycle, a horse or a bullock cart, depending on the condition of the
road. Thus we started with the aim of socialism. But we must change
3. Lectures by Dr Mukherji of
BAD POINTS
* Dr Sanghavi said that Non Resident Indians ( NRIs ) will not send
money to
[We must strongly disagree. It is in the interests of NRIs that
interest - not necessarily for good returns.]
* Nobody set the scene. Following questions should have been answered :-
What is today's problem?
How did it come about? e.g. did the collapse of the Communism cause the
problem ? or was it the
Were we unaware of the changing world situation?
Did our economic intelligence fail?
Did we not have any contingency plans?
How will the IMF and World Bank loans affect
How do we get out of this situation and make sure it does not recur?
* There was no natural progression. It was not even a brain storming
session!
* With the exception of two, it was not clear what the guest speakers
had to contribute
* There was no time keeping. Dr Sanghavi spoke for far too long and
upset the whole timetable.
* Dr Sanghavi set out Government of India's position. He was followed by
Dr Mukherji who quoted from Government of India's own publications. It was
clear that all the information given by Sanghavi was wrong. It was a pity that
Sanghavi did not stay even to listen to Mukherji. Mr Barua of Indian High
Commission did not dispute Mukherji's statements. This was nothing short of
shambles
* At the end Dr Shamsunder proposed that Gandhi was God, this was
followed by Maulana Azad was God, and even Khan Abdul Gafar Khan was God. This
was totally childish. Nobody could say how policies of any of the three would solve
In his newsletter of 20 December 1906 Savarkar wrote, " God has
given us this wonderful and fertile land. He has also created huge canals like
Meaning of Savarkar's remarks is quite clear.
1.11 Arranged Marriages
One by one the Royal marriages have run into trouble.
Queen's sister Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon were divorced in 1978.
Princess Royal, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips divorced in
April 1992, they were married in 1973. Princess Anne married Lt Commander
Lawrence in December 1992. It is said that Mark Phillips had a daughter named Felicity
in
Marriage of Prince Charles the heir apparent, and Princess Diana in 1981
was much heralded by the royalists. And yet their marriage too is on the rocks.
In the book Diana - Her True Story by Andrew Norton described in June 1992 how
unhappy Diana had been all these years, and how she attempted suicide six
times. On the other hand Prince Charles is said to be seeking solace in his 45
year old friend Camilla Parker Bowles! Princess Diana is said to be befriended
by James Gilbey, a bachelor.
None of these marriages were forced or arranged. The partners knew each
other, fell in love before marrying. There were no financial problems, no
infertility. So, why did they fail? It is time we stopped frowning upon our system
of arranged marriages. We are not saying that our system is perfect, but
neither is the European model.
A WORD OF WARNING
It is now fashionable for couples to live together without marriage.
Such arrangements end in disaster.
Valentine Low reported for Evening
Standard on 18 June 1992 " Divorce risk grows if you live
together."
She says :- Couples who live together before marriage are more likely to
get divorced, a new survey showed today.
The report, based on official Government statistics, reveals that for
some age groups the proportion of marriages that break down is twice as large
for couples who lived together before they married than for those who did not.
The figures, coming a week after Radio 4 Woman's Hour presenter Jenni
Murray's description of marriage as "legalised prostitution"
highlights the change in attitude to marriage over the past three decades.
The report says couples who pre-maritally cohabit are about 40 per cent
more likely to divorce within 15 years of marriage. If separation is included
as well as
divorce, the difference rises to 60 per cent.
The author of the report, John Haskey, of the population statistics
division of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, said there were two
possible explanations, " One is that pre-marital cohabitation reflects a
weaker commitment to the institution of marriage and that the higher rates of
marriage breakdown result from that weaker commitment. ...."
".... register marriages are more likely to end in divorce than
church ceremonies."
AN ANECDOTE
Mr Godbole came to
1.12 Impartial British -
Impartial Whites ?
Many Hindus still believe that for the British, Hindus and Muslims are
same. Why should they have set Muslims against the Hindus during the Raj ? that
is the common question. Well, similarly why should the South African Government
distinguish between one set of Africans and another? But on 22 July 1991 Mr Pie Botha, the South African
Foreign Minister confessed that the South African
Government did pay Inkatha to attack the African National Congress. Mr
Botha did authorise -transfer of necessary funds.
1.13 Behaviour of Japanese -
the Buddhists
On 17 January 1992 Japanese prime minister publicly apologised for
thousands of Koreans who were forced into prostitution during the Second World
War.
Evening Standard reported on 1 June 1992, SEX SLAVES SUE JAPAN OVER WAR
BROTHELS :-
" A handful of elderly South Korean women, survivors of thousands
of sex slaves for the Japanese army in the Second World War, began their bid
for compensation today."
" A Tokyo court heard that the ordeal of one 70-year-old former
" comfort woman ", forced to be a prostitute in a battlefield
brothel, had been so shocking she was unable to speak about it........"
" The Japanese government is contesting the action, claiming
Dr Ambedkar had kept quiet about such behaviour of Buddhists towards
Buddhists. But that is no reason why we should.
2 Behaviour of Christians and
Muslims today
2.1 Horrors of prison
conditions in
Eugene Robinson reported for International Herald Tribune on 3 April
1990. Death Lottery : In
Prisoners vowed to continue with a list of dozen inmates marked for
death until authorities corrected the overcrowding. The jail, which was
designed for 96
prisoners. ....
Mr di Pietro, the victim of Thursday's slaying appeared to have been
killed in the manner used in previous death lottery slayings. One inmate jumped
on his chest to stun him and another strangled him. .... Mr di Pietro's death focused
new attention on the critical problems of crime and punishment in
A report last year by the human-rights group Americans Watch, titled
" Prison Conditions in
" Violence by both guards and inmates is widespread," the report
concluded.
" Torture to obtain confessions is common, and guards reportedly
beat prisoners often. Inmates assault and rape other inmates, and as a form of protest
against prison conditions, sometimes even murder them."
Death-lottery killings gained notoriety in 1985. In the course of two
months 17 inmates in prison around the city of
Jail conditions became a national scandal in February 1989 when 18
prisoners were crushed to death in a
( about 9 feet by 4 feet ).
2.2 Cruelty to animals
Transport of live animals.
At present London Underground carries an advertisement on the trains by
the RSPCA. ( Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.) It reads,
" Imagine being locked in a train carriage for 24 hours. You'd have
nothing to eat and nothing to drink. Before long you'd be collapsing from
exhaustion. Now imagine the train travelling at 100 miles per hour, but there's
nowhere to sit and nothing to hold on to. You'd be thrown about, crushed and
trampled. If you're frail or weak you might not survive."
" Now imagine there are 600 people crammed in there with you.
That's five times more than the worst rush-hour crowd. Aren't you glad you're
not a lamb being
transported across ? "
" To find out how you can help us fight the needless transport of
live animals call Jerry Lloyd on 0403 -264181."
Horses forced to suffer
nightmare sea journeys for profit
Observer weekly of 13 June
1993 carried an advertisement by International League for the Protection of
Horses. It reads, " Hundreds of thousands of horses are transported to
" Sometimes they are so closely packed in that if a horse falls, it
is unable to get up and can be injured or even trampled to death by
others."
" The International League for the Protection of Horses is working
hard to change this situation. Our inspectors are working around the clock
monitoring these journeys, overseeing the loading and unloading of the horses, trying
to ensure that they are transported humanely and with proper care. "
" We are also pressing for legislation to protect these animals.
Our ultimate aim is to ensure that all horses destined for slaughter are
slaughtered before transportation so that this suffering is prevented. We are
making some encouraging progress, but there are hundreds of similar journeys
being made by horses each year that we don't currently have the resources to monitor."
2.3 Plight of the Kurds
The Kurds are Muslims. But they are hounded everywhere by Arabs. After
the end of the First World War, The Ottoman Empire collapsed. A
3 We still worry about other
people
Savarkar wrote on 2 February 1929, " Today people of
" A mosque was destroyed in Arabia, famine struck
" There is anarchy or rather multi-monarchy in
" However, it is absurd for our leaders to cry and shed tears. What
about our own freedom ? Don't you feel anguished for the throne of
" Diwan Chamanlal of
" There were meetings, speeches, demonstrations, in