INDIAN INSTITUTE
FOR RESEARCH INTO TRUE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER NO 35
OF
1 News and
current affairs
1.1 An Apology
We are sorry that
we could not publish the newsletters due on 16 February and
1.2 E Mail
address
Mr Godbole can
now be contacted on 14226.1410@compuserve.com
1.3 Savarkar’s
memorial at
In 1910 Savarkar
was being sent by ship to
Efforts are being
made by some Indians to erect a memorial to Veer Savarkar at the spot where he
was captured in
Dr Bedekar asked
us how this should be addressed. Our advice was as follows :-
(1) Keep calm and
never use foul language when dealing with the French authorities. Don't curse
Gandhi or Nehru. This is a common mistake we make.
(2) Emphasise
positive aspects of Savarkar's life
(a) Savarkar
proclaimed in 1900 that Absolute Political Independence for
(b) Savarkar
organised a public bonfire of Foreign clothes to express peoples' anger against
the British Rule in
(c) In 1910
Savarkar was sentenced to TRANSPORTATION FOR LIFE TWICE, a sentence
unparalleled in the history of
(d) At the time
of Indian independence in 1947 many leaders of the Congress Party were members
of Savarkar's secret society Abhinav Bharat. These included Balasaheb Kher
(Chief Minister of
(e) First Indian
Governor General of
(f) Congress
Party repented in 1964 and from October of that year Savarkar was granted a
government pension in recognition of his role in Indian freedom struggle.
(g) After self
immolation of Savarkar in 1966, Mrs Gandhi's government printed a postage stamp
in honour of Savarkar.
(h) Greater
London Council, when controlled by the Labour Party had fixed a plaque on the house
in
By erecting a
memorial to Savarkar in
(i) Final public
celebrations for Savarkar birth centenary were held in a committee room of the
House of Commons,
(j) Savarkar
believed in Universal brotherhood of man. In the first part of his
autobiography he stated, " I never myself hated nor did I allow others to
hate English as Englishmen only as oppressors. Once
(k) In his book
describing harsh prison life - My Transportation for Life, Savarkar
stated in 1923 " I have no hatred in my heart for Muslim or Christian
brothers or even for those living in tribes in primitive state. I do not even
despise any of them. I oppose only that section of it vehemently which is
oppressive and violent towards others."
(l) In the letter
of 6 July 1920 he wrote to his brother from jail
" We believe
in an universal state embracing all mankind and wherein all men and women would
be citizens working for and enjoying equally the fruits of this earth and this
sun, this land and this light, which constitute the real Motherland and
Fatherland of man. All other divisions are artificial though
indispensable."
Keep your letter
or E Mail to 300 to 400 words. Do not enter into any unnecessary arguments. The
above points are sufficient.
Letters / E Mails
should come from organisations instead of individuals. For example your E Mail
should be sent as from the President of the Institute for Oriental Studies,
rather than from an individual named Dr Bedekar.
* Postscript: -
Further enquiries by Mr Dhopate of Mumbai revealed that EKTA was a fictitious
body. (19 December 1998)
* Once a monument
is erected, we must ensure that all the Indians visiting
1.4 Some
misconceptions about Savarkar
Several E Mails
were exchanged about Savarkar's memorial at
Some corrections
and additions
Having read some
reactions to objection to above memorial please allow me to make some
corrections and add more information
(1) Savarkar did
not go on a hunger strike. In 1966. He decided to end his life like a true
Yogi. He was fully contented with what he had done all his life. Time comes for
all of us to say good bye to this earth. He fasted for 22 days to end his life.
(2) After his
death, people queued for hours for a last look at him. This included many
dignitaries who never stood in a queue for anything in their life.
(3) First Indian
National Flag
Savarkar was
invited to send a delegate to the International Socialist Conference at
There were three
bands - Green to show vitality of the youth, Saffron to show success, Red to
show the blood sacrifice necessary to achieve success, it also shows strength.
The green colour was NOT there to appease the Muslims.
Sun and Moon
showed eternity (yavat chandra divakarau -
The famous words
Vande Mataram were of course printed on the flag.
The flag was
unfurled by Madam Cama in
Savarkar again
unfurled this flag on 26 October 1937 at Tilak Smarak Mandir of Pune.
(4) Savarkar's Transportation
to Andaman
There are some
misconceptions
Savarkar was NOT
supposed to be kept in prison for 50 years. Normally after 3 years the
prisoners were sent outside the prison to work and later to settle and even
bring their families from
SAVARKAR WAS KEPT
INSIDE THE PRISON FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS IN FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE
GOVERNMENT'S OWN POLICY.
Public outcry in
(5) Restrictions
on Savarkar were meant only for 5 years. But British Authorities extended their
duration by 2 years in succession - to a total of 13 years internment.
In the 1930s
Savarkar started to write his memoirs. First part obviously dealt with
political scene in
SAVARKAR WAS
BLUNTLY TOLD BY THE GOVERNOR THAT EVEN WRITING SUCH MEMOIRS WAS STRICTLY
FORBIDDEN, LET ALONE PUBLISHING THEM.
I hope that our
friends are now enlightened and will use the information whenever required.
1.5 Nathuram
Godse censored once again !!
Mr Godbole's
friend Mr Basargekar came to
The play is
banned in
1.6
With the advent
of E Mail Mr Godbole has started a bulletin entitled London Calling. His first
three bulletins are given below
Greetings my
friends
(1) I attended
the Marathi Sammelan held in
(mother tongue)
This attitude
definitely creates a sense of affinity between Marathas (and Indians) and the
Jews.
Why can't Muslims
adopt the same attitude? Why do they maintain that Urdu is their mother tongue?
(2) Recent events
in
(3) There has
been an appeal to help the families of Officers and soldiers who have recently
died in
(4) In view of
the
Vande Mataram
-----------------
BBC WORLD SERVICE
on Wednesday 6 October 1999
Time 0600 to 0630
hrs
Subject -
Speculation about results of the Indian General Elections
Where does the
BBC correspondent in
slums of
How we counteract
is a different matter. But, first we must know our enemy.
* Should we bother
what the BBC says? Mrs Dipali Ghosh of
This may be so.
But, BBC simply uses its name and prestige to create a bad impression about
Moreover,
millions of people all over the world listen to the BBC and its propaganda badly
affects how other people see and behave towards us. So, the BBC does matter. If
it was Radio Tirana, one could not care less.
Complaints
against the BBC should be made to :-
Broadcasting
Standards Commission
7 The Sanctuary
U.K
( Tel 0171-233-0544)
-----------
BBC WORLD SERVICE
0600 to 0630 hrs
Coup in
BBC correspondent
in
The U S senator
remarked, " The days of military dictatorship are over. However, the
Kashmiri people must have the democratic right to decide their future. We did
not care for last 50 years and have been cowards in not forcing
The lesson is DO
NOT BECOME COMPLACENT. Price of freedom is eternal vigilance
*
1.7 Emmeline
Pankhurst : Woman at Arms
On 24 December
1998, the Times wrote in its Editorial column
Emmeline
Pankhurst's crusade for women's suffrage
In an age when
women were supposed to be the demure servants of their husbands, one woman
fought for her sisters' rights with a militancy that would shock even those of
us living at this end of the 20th century. Emmeline Pankhrust, leader of the
suffragettes, found that argument alone won her only stony denials. Peaceful
mass protests turned but won her no vote. She was eventually reduced to the
tactics of the urban terrorist to make even a dent in the resolve of male
politicians not to give women the vote
(But, is this not
the story of the Indian freedom struggle? This is precisely how Tilak and
Savarkar came to the forefront)
Between 1910 and
the start of the First World War in 1914, the suffragettes moved from meetings
to guerrilla war: burning churches and blowing up stations (having first
determined that no one was inside).
Womens’ suffrage
was debated three times in this period but Asquith’s blustering and threats of
resignation kept it off the statute book. Mrs Pankhrust and her daughters spent
their lives in and out of prison.
(This is what
happened to British women in
The war turned
out to be both the end and the beginning of the battle for womens’ suffrage.
Emmeline and her daughter Christabel, called off their campaign and turned
their attention to recruiting men for the front and women for munitions
factories. ....Emmeline turned out to be the shrewder campaigner. When it was
realised at the end of the war that many soldiers and sailors had become
disenfranchised through living away from their addresses for too long, it was a
short step to acknowledging that women too should be rewarded for their
contribution. Along with returning heroes, women aged 30 with right property
qualifications were given the vote in 1918. It had been a long and bloody
battle. And it was won only by the determination of a woman prepared to starve,
to be imprisoned and to be beaten for rights that we take for granted today.
[Of course the
British do not see the Indian freedom struggle in the same light. Mrs
Pankhurst’s determination was shown by Savarkar. Tilak was in
Savarkar used the
second world war as an excellent opportunity to impart military training to
Hindu youth. Subhash Chandra Bose, on advise of Savarkar formed the Indian
National Army with the prisoners of war captured by the Japanese - a daring
attempt indeed. It was at this stage that the British realised that the Indian
Army would no longer be loyal to them. Their days were numbered. Savarkar
proved to be far sighted indeed. ]
1.8 Cleanliness
in our temples
1.8.1 When we
visit our temples we are expected to take off our shoes. That is fine. But
after removal of shoes there are no facilities for washing hands. We invariably
recite Aaratis and take prasad with dirty hands. This must be changed. There is
an exception. When Mr Godbole attended Gayatri Mandir at 201 The Broadway,
1.8.2 On 14
February 1999 Mahashivaratri was celebrated by a group of Hindus at
On such occasions
it should be possible to attend with normal footwear up to a certain point. One
should have to remove shoes only for entering a small sanctum.
One of Godbole’s
friends who had taken considerable efforts for the function was excited at the
prospect of the Queen attending the function. Godbole was furious, ‘You should
have felt ashamed of yourselves. You want a beef eater British queen as your
guest? What kind of man are you ? If she wants to attend as a visitor that is
different matter, but you must not invite her as a guest. You should have
threatened to resign from the organising committee even at the thought of such
an invitation.’
1.9 Anniversaries
21 October 1999
25 years ago
V . Of course, she would not dream of keeping even a square
inch of
9 November 1999
20th anniversary
of
10th anniversary
of the fall of the
15 November 1999
50 years ago,
Nathuram Godse went to the gallows for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi on 31
January 1948
1.10 Millions of Americans are going hungry
On 15 October
1999, Damien Whitworth reported from
It may be the
land of plenty, but for millions of its population are going hungry. According
to e new government survey, despite a reputation for overindulging, huge
numbers of people in the
The government
study offers support for what is one of the most shocking sights in the world’s
richest country: the rows of leaking mobile homes and shacks, complete with
rusting kitchen appliances resting idle on the porch, sheltering people who
have too little to eat.
The poverty that
exists in the South is well known, despite three decades of dogged attempts
from
Even at a time
when the economy is buoyant, at least 10% of the households in 18 states and
Washington DC, the nation’s capital, are going hungry or do not have consistent
access to adequate food, the Agriculture Department said.
In
Overall, however,
the biggest problem exists in the South, where
During this, the
most prosperous economy in decades, it should shock most Americans to learn
that hunger persists and is in every state. Dan Glickman, the Agriculture
Secretary, said. ‘The problem of hunger amid
1.11 HUMAN RIGHTS
(?) IN
The Times of 4
March 1999 carried a report from French Press Agency in
Amnesty
International today denounces the violation of the fundamental rights and
dignity of women in American prisons. Cases of rape, groping and fondling
during body searches, and use of handcuffs and shackles in childbirths, led
Michel Frost, Amnesty’s director in France, to refer to a ‘double sentence’
Accounts compiled
by Amnesty echo a 1997 Justice Department investigation that admitted frequent,
prolonged, close-up and prurient viewing during dressing, showering and use of
toilet facilities in an
Last Match, it
adds, the Federal Bureau of Prisons paid $500,000 ( £312,500 ) to three women
to drop charges against correctional personnel in
In 1997 about
138,000 women were prison. The proportion of blacks and Hispanics greatly
exceeded their representation in the population.
1.12 (British)
Democracy in practice
In June 1999
elections were held for electing Members of the European Parliament.
(MEPs). True, it
was based on proportional representation. Thus the Tories got 36% of votes and
got 36 seats. Labour got 28% votes and got 29 seats. But the turnout itself was
only 25 %. Thus only 9% of TOTAL voters voted for the Tories!! And yet their
leader William Hague boasted that his party got a mandate to defend the Pound -
i.e. to keep
British General
Elections had always been just as bad. If you get 41% of the votes cast you can
be guaranteed a majority in Parliament. The turnout is not likely to be more
than 75%. Thus for the last 50 years the ruling parties came to power by votes
of only 32% of TOTAL VOTERS. That is democracy.
Democracy does
not mean majority rule - it means minority rule
In 1983 / 1987 the
Tories got elected with huge majorities with only 40% votes. In 1997 (May)
Labour came to power with 43% of votes but 63% of seats, giving them a majority
of 170 seats. 312 MPs got less than 50% votes.
It is time we are
told the truth.
1.13 Rushdie states
his case on UN row
On 15 October
1999 the Times published a letter by Salman Rushdie. He says, “I am sorry that
you misquoted me in Tuesday’s Diary, and also misrepresented the nature of
disagreement with the Secretary General of the UN.”
”In my contribution
to the anthology Letters to the Six Billionth World Citizen a letter, which,
incidentally, I was persuaded to write by a personal request from Kofi Annan),
I nowhere referred to overpopulation being the fault of the lies of religious
leaders I did, however, more mildly write : Blame the overcrowded planet on the
misguidedness of the planet’s spiritual guides. .... Too many people are being
born as a result, in part, of religious strictures against birth control. In
the light of the current attitudes of both the Catholic and Islamic priesthood,
is this really a contentious statement ? ......
I referred to the
divisions between great powers of the Muslim world -
1.14 No more ‘
Ladies and Gentlemen ‘
Mr Godbole made a
suggestion for the Marathi Sammelan, held in
The same
suggestion should be followed during all Indian functions
1.15 Savarkar’s
literature
Balarao Savarkar,
until his death used to publish Veer Savarkar’s literature. Our friend Vijay Joshi of Nagothane, Raygad,
that the rights
of publications have now been passed on to Sau Himani Ashok Savarkar. Her
address is :-
500/2A Shanivar
Peth
Raja Thakur Marg
Pune 411,030.
[Telephone
Number Pune 455, 7511]
Following books
used to be available in English
* Hindutva
* My
Transportation for Life ( horrors of prison conditions suffered by Veer
Savarkar when on the
* Hindu Pada
Patshahi ( The struggle of the Marathas for a united Hindu Nation )
* Hindu Rashtra
Darshan (SavarkarÕs speeches as President of Hindu Mahasabha)
* Six Glorious
Epochs of Indian History ( Six major episodes which showed a several revivals of the Hindu nation )
2 Visitors
2.1 Dr Mukund
Kulkarni
He is the
Director of School of Business Administration, in
2.2 Dr Sudhakar
Agarkar
A scientist by
profession, Dr Agarkar got interested in education, in particular education of
Science and Maths teachers. He works for the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research, Mumbai. He was awarded a scholarship by the Rotary Club,
International to study methods used by the Open University in
(in Marathi). He
also took interest in knowing about all aspects of western life. He went back
to
His booklet of
speeches given in
2.3 Dr P G Shukla
A scholar who
teaches Sanskrit at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan came to
3 Around
Ten such tours
took place
[1] 10 November
1998
Mr Uday Deshpande
of Mumbai had brought a group of 12 acrobats ( 6 boys and 6 girls ). They
displayed their skills at various locations. Mr Godbole attended a programme at
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. He was impressed by their performance and took them out
on the tour on 10 November 1998
[2] 15 November
1998
Shree Haribhau
Vaze is a RSS pracharak in Karnatak
[3] 21 November
1998
Shree Vaze was
very impressed with the visit and strongly recommended it to fellow RSS officers. Accordingly, Shree
Rama Jois, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Harayana made a request for such
a visit. So, on 21 November Shree Jois, Dr Tatvavadi, RSS Chief in
On 24 December
Justice Rama Jois wrote, “ Sunday, 22nd November became a memorable day in my
life as on that day, I had the fortune of having the darshan of the residence
of Shri Shyamji Krishnavarma, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, and places where
Madanlal Dhingra and Udham Singh performed heroic deeds.
The patriotic
feeling with which you took us to these places as you have been doing for
others also, has left an indelible impression in my mind about your dedication
to the cause of our Nation. It would remain an eternal source of impression to
me.”
[4] 21 March 1999
( Sunday )
The seven
attendees were :-
Dr Agarkar of
Kalyan, Maharahstra ( he came for the second time )
Four engineers
from Mahindra BT namely Suraj Nair, Varsha Shende, Rohini Chivate.
Shree Guruswamy,
a manager of Abbey National
Shree Wadhwa,
Community Relations officer, Aylesbury
(Guruswamy and
Wadhwa were studying for post graduate courses together, but had lost contact
for more than 20 years.)
[5] 28 May 1999 (
Friday )
Shree Agashe is a
Director of Thane Janata Sahakari Bank. He and his wife went on a tour of
[6] 5 June 1999 (
Saturday )
Following persons
attended :-
Ramchandra
Patil, resident priest of Arya Samaj,
Sonerao Acharya,
resident priest of Arya Samaj,
Tapendra Kumar,
an IAS officer and Member, Board of Revenue, Government of the
Sou Khakhria of