INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH
INTO TRUE HISTORY
NEWSLETTER NO.37 OF
1. NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
1.1 An Apology
We are sorry that we could not produce the Newsletters of 16
February and 16 June
1.2 Change of E Mail address
Shree Godbole can now be contacted on – v.godbole3@ntlworld.com
1.3 Rationalism of Veer
Savarkar ( in Marathi )
Review of this book by Shree Godbole appeared in the Divali 1999
issue of Ekata monthly, a Marathi
monthly of RSS published from Pune.
Another review by Shree Gopal Godse appeared in the Marathi
daily Samana of Shivasena of Mumbai
on
1.4 Rationalism of Veer
Savarkar ( in English )
Godbole has started work on an English version of his book in
Marathi. He would like to complete it by February 2003. The Prologue / Preface,
Parts I, II and III are now ready. Parts IV and V are being checked
1.5 Might is right
Jiang Zemin President of
Evening Standard
reported on 21 October ( Londoner’s diary )
Dalai Lama exiled from Tussaud’s
“ President Jiang Zemin has effortlessly imported
“ Yesterday a Madame Tussaud’s spokesman, Fiona Piere, explained
the affront by saying: ‘ It is the honourable thing to do in view of the fact
that the Dalai Lama is totally against the President’s political and religious
beliefs. This was done on our own initiative to avoid offence.”
Today, though, Tussaud’s are censoring their own censorship by
denying the democratic meltdown ever took place. The waxworks’ chief P.R, Diane
Moon, tells me ‘ There’d be no need to do that – I don’t understand it. The
President wouldn’t have even seen the figure – he came in and went to the
studios for a sitting.’
Alison Reynolds, director of Free Tibet, is appalled at
Tussaud’s dictatorial airbrushing: ‘It is absurd example of kowtowing to
* In a similar move, books criticising
On 21 October Metro
reported on page 7
‘ Protesters haunt Jiang as
Human rights protesters yesterday continued to dog Chinese
president Jiang Zemin on the day two of his historic visit to
As police battled to subdue demonstrators, it was announced
The privately negotiated agreements will make the U.K the
biggest European investor in
Security surrounding the visit was tight but one protester
managed to break through police barrier near the Millennium Dome. David Wetton,
55 got to within a yard of the leader shouting ‘ free
The extent of the Met operation aimed at stifling protests
angered demonstrators.
In
Jo Farley, a protester at the
The Met denied it had overreacted. A Met spokesman said : ‘It is
our objective to strike an appropriate balance ensuring safety of the president
of the Chinese republic whilst facilitating legitimate protest.’
Among the deals announced was a 500 million pound agreement
between National Power,
** The extent of police high-handedness can be gathered from
letters to the editor of the Daily
Telegraph of 21 October 1999. Here they are under the title A disgraceful use of police force:-
Alan Stevens wrote, “ I am appalled by the heavy-handed
treatment meted out to some members of the crowds demonstrating against the
visit of Jiang Zemin. He is the leader of arguably the most repressive regime
in the world today, one that perpetrates massive human rights abuses against
not only its own people, who have no rights to free speech or proper democratic
elections, but also those in
“ Who issued the orders to police officers on duty to be so
repressive ? They appear to have been politically motivated.”
“ Jiang Zemin was warmly greeted by Tony Blair and Robin Cook
with double-handed handshakes. That we should be so obsequious is obscene. It
beggars belief.”
-----
David and Lorraine Morhen of Kent wrote, “ How awful it was to
see police in
It was such a different reaction to what is usually expected
from crowds lined along that thoroughfare.
Tony Blair should realise that people in this country remember
the images of
____
Simon Orme of
How thoughtful of the Government. How disgraceful.”
____
Viscount Montgomery of
1.6 Chhatrapatee Shivaji
dominates
On 20 February 2001 Shree Yogesh Kulkarni (yogeshkulkarni@hotmail.com ) sent
us an E Mail.
It was yet another historic moment. .. a grand and imposing
statue of
Shivaji was installed just in front of the Red Fort,
Sporting a red Maratha turban and big tilak on his forehead, Advani recapped
History for a while. Admitting that the great Maratha warrior
was his ideal,
Advani said that the country needs a statesman like Shivaji who
can lead it
from the front." A fearless and firm leadership like
Shivaji can make the
difference. He should be our role model", asserted Advani.
While addressing a gathering near the fort, Mr Advani said that
Shivaji and
Veer Savarkar were the two giants of modern Indian history who
influenced his mind in the childhood." I read a book The grand rebel and
was mesmerised by the qualities and greatness of the warrior legend who sowed
the seeds of Indian independence. On Chatrapati's birth anniversary I feel
proud to be given the opportunity to unveil his statue," he added.
The Home Minister said that there are hundreds of statues of
Shivaji in the
country ."From Mumbai to Raigarh and Gujarat to
statues of Shivaji. But what we see here is something different.
This
statue, installed just in front of the fort, has its own
historical relevance and sanctity. For a patriot this place now could be
another pilgrimage," he said.
Earlier Union Minister of Heavy Industries, Manohar Joshi said
that he had come to know from the organisers that local MP refused to attend
this function." It's sad that despite being a non-political function, an
MP of a particular party did not join us. I feel Shivaji belonged to all of us.
I could have come here even if I was not granted invitation," he said.
Maharshtra Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh demanded that a statue of Shivaji
should be installed inside the parliament."
I would request Advanji and my friend Manohar Joshi that the
Government in
of the greatest statesman
Our comments :- Now it is time to follow the footsteps of
Shivaji. We must resolve to kill those in
1.7 Brtish pronunciations of
our words
The British Press and T.V want to go back to the imperial days.
During the Kumbh Mela days they used the word Ganges instead of Ganga ( Evening Standard 24 January 2001, Metro 15 January, p16; Times 12 January p20 and Sunday Telegraph 7 January, p28 ),
during the conflict between American power company Enron and Government of
Maharashtra they started to use Bombay instead of Mumbai (Financial Times 21 May 2001, p8)
Of course, they never use the word Peking, they will say
1.8 Godbole’s visit to
Hindusthan ( April /May 2001 )
Mr and Mrs Godbole visited Pune for a marriage ceremony.
Meetings
* During his stay it was extremely difficult to get out of the
house, the temperatures soaring to 42 degrees centrigrade. Still Godbole
managed to meet some friends
>> Prof Asnani holds a gathering of a group of about 30
people who meet at his house to discuss problems facing the Hindu society, on
the first Sunday of each month. A special meeting was called for Godbole who
explained the activities of Muslims in
‘ After the Dutch granted independence to
At Prof Asnani’s house Godbole also met Prof P N Oak, Londhe,
Milind Joshi, Mamdapurkar, Sippy, Mehendale and Muzumdar. Godbole promised to
keep in touch with the group by E Mail.
>> Afterwards it was decided to hold another meeting in Mr
Londhe’s flat in Kothrud. This time Godbole met Ashok Athawale ( formerly of
Indian Institute of Technology,
Prof More of Nanded has written an excellent book on Koran in
Marathi. Knowing the sensitivity of the issue he published the book himself and
it is not for sale. Mr Godbole was given a copy with his compliments.
After the massacre of Hindus in Noakhali in November 1946,
Muslims tried to do the same in
* Godbole also met Dr Shreerang Godbole, a specialist in
diabetes. He had known about Godbole’s works for some time, but the two never
met.
* Godbole met Dr P V Vartak who had written excellent books on
Ramayan and Mahabharat. Godbole made suggestions for improvements.
* Godbole also met M S Dixit, an historian. He had started a
movement to fix plaques on houses associated with great men and women of Pune,
for example revolutionary Vasudev Balvant Phadake, Dr Anandi Gopal Joshi
( first Indian doctor to qualify in
• Unity of the Hindu nation
The Ambabai of Kolhapur is the family deity of Godboles. He
therefore visited that temple. While wandering in precinct he came across a
notice in Kannada language. The notice in Marathi stated that if people want to
make any donations in the name of the Goddess they should seek an official
receipt. After making enquiries Godbole was told that Kannada speaking Hindus
consider it a duty to make pilgrimage to this temple. She is their revered
Goddess too. Similarly Vithoba is revered by both communities.
This incident reminded him of Kannada inscription in Pune.
Godbole had been visiting the Parvati temple in Pune since childhood. In 1981
he was surprised to find inscription in Kannada on the front door of
Kartikswami temple on the Parvati hill. He made enquiries and was told, “
Maratha women do not visit this temple. Once a Kannada Hindu visited Parvati.
He also visited other temples on the hill. He was surprised to know there was a
• Other impressions
Road transport in
-There are central dividers on many roads, which helps traffic
to flow smoothly
- On highways the petrol pumps have much improved in appearance
and services they provide.
- Dr Bhide of 2 Budhwar Peth, Pune has inherited a family house
some 250 years old. Part of the front was lost during road widening. But he has
rebuilt the house with old style bricks, mortar and timber. His determination
is worth praising.
• It is worth noting how mass media moulds the attitude of
people. Even when the temperatures were reaching 42 degrees centigrade, male
newscasters always wore ties, and ladies have hair cut like Europeans.
1.9 Godbole’s visit to
Godboles visited
* Dr Vijay Bhatkar was the Chief Guest. He is a computer wizard.
He could have lived a life of luxury in
* Dr Abhay Bang and his wife were educated in Hindusthan and
went to
* We also met Dr Mandke. He left U.K and has started a hospital
for heart operations in Mumbai. His aim is that no one should be denied heart
surgery simply because he or she is poor.
Yes, we do have such people. Why should we be disheartened?
1.10 British Justice
The Sun
reported on 23 August ‘Top copper escapes speed cameras fine’
Fury erupted last night after a police chief escaped a fine – by
claiming he couldn’t remember who was driving when his car was caught by a
speed camera.
Highflying Det Supt Adrian Roberts had his speeding ticket
scrapped following a meeting with another senior officer.
But angry colleagues have now forced a review, and motoring
groups demanded he be prosecuted.
Mr Roberts 36, was head of Cleveland Police traffic unit when it
introduced mobile speed cameras in 1997.
Now head of Middlesborough CID, he wrote to his force after his
Citrogen Ax was photographed breaking a 30 mph limit on April 8 – a Sunday.
He said he could not remember who was behind the wheel.
Supt Graham Cummings, in the Administration of Justice
Department scrapped the ticket after deciding the photo did not identify the
driver.
But it is a crime for the
registered owner of a car to fail to name the person driving at the time of a
speeding offence.
Members of the public who used Mr Robert’s explanation would
still face a fine and penalty points.
One senior cop said last night “ This smacks of a cosy deal
being done, of one rule for the police and one for the public.”
Mr Roberts was sent a letter after his car was caught in
He was given the choice between accepting a 60 pound fine and
three penalty points or pleading not guilty.
Senior source said “ there is real anger within the force. It’s
ridiculous to suggest that a superintendent cannot recall what he was doing on
a Sunday a few weeks earlier. There seems to have been no questions asked, such
as who else was insured to drive the car and if they could recall what they
were doing.”
2. AROUND
2.1 Mr Godbole conducted four such tours
* First one was organised by Ajit Vartak on 22 March 2001.
Fourteen of his friends attended.
* Second one was on 28 July. 30 people mostly Computer Engineers
attended. Out of them 20 were led by Tushar Bapat. Ninad Chhatre, Milind Bhave
and his wife Sau Aboli, Ajit Vartak and his wife and parents, Rahul Kulkarni,
Anant Jukkalakar attended.
* Third one was arranged on 18 August. 26 people, mostly Computer
Engineers attended including an Englishman.Some of them were Sujata Tyagi and
her friend, Shree and Sau Angle, Vinayak Ambekar, Padmakar Khandekar, Ravindra
Savant, Sanjay Athavale, Shree and Sau Kshirsagar, Ashish Bokil,.Bipin Patel,
Mangesh Kulkarni and his wife, Rahul Rasal It started to rain by 6 p.m. Godbole
therefore changed the plan. When the party reached
* Fourth one was on 29 September. 8 people attended. They were
Pradeep Kale and his mother, Mrs Bembalkar, Gopal Agarwal, Shirish Dhamnekar ad
their friends.
* Full description of the tour has now been extensively revised.
It runs into 46 pages and is available by E Mail
* Godbole was surprised to get a call from Indian High
Commission. One of the first Secretaries had asked for details of Godbole’s
tour.
* A high-ranking officer of Government of Maharsahtra was also
interested in the tour. Unfortunately he could not attend the tours in July and
August. However, he did meet Godbole along with his friend Dr Tanaji Acharya.
2.2 Slide shows
Dr Agarkar of Kalyan,
* In October 2000 he had been to Nanded to deliver a lecture on
Scientific Temper and Human Development. After this lecture a slide show on
London Tour was arranged by Prof. R K Deshpande. It was liked by many. Sikhs
have a big Gurudwara in the city. The incidence of Jalianwala bag is mentioned
in their exhibition. They therefore appreciated the information regarding
Madanlal Dhingra and Udhamsingh very much.
* On 10 February
2001 he conducted another slide show on
Mumbai. There were about 220 students for the show. The programme was
received very well. Shardashram is a famous school in Dadar area. Sachin
Tendulakar the present cricket hero was the student of this school.
3 Historical findings
3.1 Origins of Christianity
The Daily Mail
publishes some interesting information in its column ‘Coffee Break’ On 17
November 2000 we found -
How did All Hallows Day (
November 1 ) become the modern All Saints Day ?
Prof Jack Santinoi of Department of Popular Culture,
Halloween, the eve of or day before All Hallows Day, has its
origin in an ancient, pre-Christian festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples,
once found all over
It was a time when cattle and sheep were moved to lower pastures
and all livestock were secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested, so
the date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle.
This festival was called Samhain ( pronounced Sah-ween ) and was
the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year.
The Celts believed that at this time, the ghosts of the dead
were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who
had died during the year travelled into the other world.
People gathered to sacrifice animals and offer gifts of fruits
and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honour of the dead, aiding them on
their journey and keeping them away from the living.
Samhain became Halloween when Christian missionaries attempted
to change the religious practices of the Celts.
In 601 A.D Pope Gregory I
issued an edict to his missionaries concerning the beliefs and customs of the
peoples he hoped to convert.
Rather than trying to
obliterate these practices, he instructed his missionaries to use them. If a
group of people worshipped a tree, rather than cut it down, he advised them to
consecrate it to Christ and allow it to continue to be worshipped.
Church holy days were set to
coincide with native holy days. Christmas, for instance, was celebrated on
December 25 because it corresponded with the pre-Christian mid-winter
celebration. In 610, Pope Boniface IV converted the Pantheon in
A festival called All Hallows Day, deriving from the Old English
halig meaning ‘holy’ and devised to
honour every Christian saint, especially those who didn’t have a special day
was originally held on May 1. But, in the spirit of Pope Gregory I, this was
changed in 834 to November 1 to substitute for Samhain and drew the devotion of
the Celtic peoples.
The traditional Celtic deities diminished on status, becoming
the fairies or leprechauns of more recent tradition.
3.2
Chimaji Appa, younger brother of Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I
defeated the Portuguese in
Hail! Many Full of Grace the Lord is with three – GRAITA PLENA
DOMINVS TECVM AVE MARIA HIS. At present it is kept in a museum in the Town
Hall.
When Godbole went to
Our comment :- What happened to other three bells ?
( Ref :- Article in Tarun Bharat of
3.3 Indian Classical Music
belongs to Hindus
Sakal, the
Marathi language daily of Pune carries some interesting stories. On 3 May 2001
it carried a feature of famous singer Pandit Ramkrushnabuva Vaze.
Vaze was born in Ozare, in
“ why don’t you write history of our Music ? “ Surprisingly he
was asked the same question by famous scientist Dr C.V Raman.
For a very long time Muslims had monopolised music. Why was this
? Music originated in Samaveda. So, Vaze asked the question to a Khansaheb. He
said, “ Indian classical music originally belongs to Hindus, but during Muslim
rule many Hindu singers voluntarily converted to Islam. I am myself descendent
of one of them. It is not that Muslims are deeply interested in music, but
Muslim rulers were interested, that is how we came forward. Hindus abandoned
music. Therefore it may seem that Indian classical music is Muslim but that is
not the case. It is definitely a heritage of Hindus.
3.4 Perseverance pays off for
RAF ‘swastika’ squadron.
On 1 April 1997 John Young reported for The Times. He said,
“ An RAF squadron that played a crucial role in the defeat of
the Japanese in the Second World War has achieved official recognision more
than half century after it was disbanded. The Garter King of Arms has approved
a new badge for the squadron association that will be dedicated at St
Clement Danes, the RAF church in the
The ceremony will mark the successful outcome of a long campaign
by veterans and friends of 273 Squadron……
The squadron was formed in 1918 and then reformed in
Most squadrons were formed or reformed in
The reason was thought to be that the design incorporated an
ancient Asian peace symbol, the fylfot, which had been copied from the wall of
a Buddhist temple near the squadron airfield in
The squadron, which was too busy fighting to put forward a
different design, was disbanded early in 1946, never having served as a unit in
On their return home its members were told that, since the
squadron no longer existed, a badge could not be granted retrospectively.
Consequently it could not be commemorated, along with other squadrons, on the
floor of St Clement Danes or in the RAF museum in Hendon.
Last June, Nicholas Soames, the Armed Forces Minister, confirmed
in Commons that the rule still applied. However, he added that a badge could be
granted to an official squadron association.
An association was duly formed and has since been recognised by
the Ministry of Defence as representing the interests of those who fought with
the squadron in the war.
A final hitch occurred when it was found that there was no space
between 272 and 274 squadrons on the church floor. Instead the new badge,
without the fylfot and displaying the crown of the queen instead of George VI
will have an honoured place next to that of No 1 Squadron, the oldest of them
all.
3.5 Slavery : Time for truth
3.5.1 The
U.N held a conference on Racism in
Ann Leslie wrote for the Daily
Mail on 30 August 2001
‘ Crimes against humanity ‘ are only crimes when committed by
whites against blacks – not when they are committed by blacks against whites,
or blacks against other blacks it seems.
Nor will anyone at the
Arab traders then cashed in on
this already thriving trade, force-marching the purchased Africans across
deserts for shipment to North Africa and the
Even 25 years ago in oil rich Dubai, I met black women descended
from African slaves, who were not paid any regular wages and who, in private,
were unembarrassedly referred to by their Arab owners as ‘slaves.’
Arab delegations – intent on attacking
When the whites arrived in
The
In 1772 slavery was abolished on British soil, and in 1833
outlawed throughout the
Far from welcoming the end of this exploitation of the African
peasantry, African tribal chiefs ( and Arab slavers ) were mighty annoyed about
our meddling in what would now be called their ‘ cultural traditions.’
Delegations from West Africa arrived in
So, if reparations are to be paid by former slave-owning white
nations, then should they not also be paid by black African states whose
original wealth was built upon the very ‘crime against humanity’ ?
3.5.2 Prof
Linda Colley, of London School of Economics in her letter to the editor of The
Guardian, said, “ … Even in 1700 two of the most formidable empires in the
world were both Islamic – the Mughals in
“ But if we want to understand cross-cultural relations, we must
get rid of the simplistic notion that in the past only whites had power and
that all non-Europeans lacked it. The world was and is far more complicated “
3.5.3 Arabian slave trade
In his letter to the editor of Independent ( 9 September 2001 ) W R Haines wrote, “ Arabs in east
3.5.4 We
came across an issue of Daily Mail of
15 November 1997. It carried a review by Paul Johnson of the book The Slave Trade by Hugh Thomas.
One of the most fascinating
themes in Thomas’s book is his cataloguing of African complicity in the trade.
Despite popular belief, Europeans did not introduce slavery;
they just latched on to an existing market.
For centuries before Europeans began shipping black people to
the
Indeed, after prostitution, trading in slaves is the world’s
oldest profession. Aristotle stated a universal truth: ‘Humanity is divided
into two – the masters and the slaves.’
Two millennia later, in 1842, the sultan of
But the slave trade to the
Two great and supposedly saintly men – King Ferdinand V, known
as Ferdinand the Catholic, and the Emperor Charles V, who retired to the
monastery he built for himself at the Scoria, near Madrid – gave permission
early in the 16th century for 4000 Africans, ‘ the best and
strongest slaves available’ to be shipped across the Atlantic. They were the
original villains. But they were not the only ones
Africans were chosen because they worked harder, longer and more
willingly than whites or Indians. And this fact had been known for centuries to
sharp Arab traders, who engaged in slaving on a prodigious scale long before
The Arabs continued to transport Africans in scores of thousands
to North Africa, the Mediterranean and the
The Arabs were the great internal slavers in
Virtulayy all were sold, quite legally, by black kings and by
black or Arab traders. The largest single category were prisoners, taken in
endemic local African wars, which were waged for hundreds of years before the
transatlantic slave trade began
In the 1850s, Sigissmund Koelle, an expert in African languages,
made a detailed survey, which showed that 34 percent of slaves were war
prisoners. 30 pc had been kidnapped by Africans, 11 pc had been condemned to
slavery in law courts, 7 pc had been sold to pay debts and 7 pc had been sold
by families or friends.
In the 1820s The African potentate Eyo Honsety II of
About 11 million Africans survived the journey across the
The success of the British did not mean they were crueller than
the Spanish, French, Dutch, Danes and Americans, who also took part in
large-scale slave trading, merely that they won more wars and were more
efficient.
In 1750 William Chancellor. A ship’s surgeon on the slaver Wolf,
wrote that the trade was a way of redeeming an unhappy people from inconceivable
misery. This was a common view and it is
not surprising that the Quakers were successful slavers.
In
Many Catholic and Protestant clergy approved of slavery as means
of converting Africans who would otherwise remain pagan. This argument ignored
the fact that in some U.S states it was a criminal offence to teach religion to
slaves.
And all the defences of slavery overlooked the horror of the
‘middle passage’. More than 13 million slaves left African ports. Only
11,328,000 were landed in
Queen Anne boasted to parliament : ‘ I have insisted and
obtained that the contract for furnishing the Spanish West Indies with Negroes
shall be made with us for 30 years. This contract was sold out to South Sea
Company and led to the famous ‘Bubble’ in 1720, the first stock exchange crash
in
Dr Johnson’s angry question was “ How is it that the loudest
yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes ? “ Four out of
To its eternal credit,
So what about the issue of compensation ? ….. The most active
agents in the slave trade were the petty kings of
3.6 Hindusthan – the holy land
for Arabs
Pandit Mahadevshastri Joshi of Pune compiled Bharatiya
Sanskritikosh or Encyclopaedia of civilisation of Bharat. On page 215 we find
Arabs and Bharat
Traditionally Arabs believe that Hazrat Adam descended from
heaven to land in Hindusthan and from there he travelled to
Ref :- Arab aur Bharatake
Sambandha by Sayyad Suleiman Nadavi, year 1930
We have asked our friends in Pune to investigate further
4 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN
On 21 June 2000 Andrew Gumbel reported from
US is accused of exploiting Latino children on farms
A leading human rights group accused the United States yesterday
of violating international standards on child labour by allowing minors - the
vast majority Latinos - to work gruelling hours in the fields at the expense of
their education, health and other basic labour standards.
Human Rights Watch said hundreds of thousands of minors across
the country were working days of 14 hours or more, often for much less than the
legal minimum wage, and that they were being exposed to highly toxic pesticides
and running a serious risk of illness and injury from heavy equipment and sharp
instruments.
" In the fields, the U.S is like a developing
country," said Lee Tucker, the author of the report Fingers to the Bone :
United State's failure to Protect Child Farm workers.
Under the 1938 Fair Labour Standards Act, agricultural workers
are exempt from the age restrictions that apply to almost every other sector of
the economy. Although American politicians have lobbied in support of a
far-reaching international treaty to outlaw abuses of child labour, the
" A12-year old kid can work unlimited hours on a farm but
isn't allowed to work in a fast-food restaurant," Ms Tucker said. "
There is no good reason to have such a double standard."
Children were routinely exposed to pesticides, sometimes working
in fields still wet with poison, and often given no access to water to wash
their hands or avert dehydration. The risk of injury from knives, heavy
equipment or falls from ladders was exacerbated by the long hours; sleep
deprivation and a relatively high incidence of depression
5. AMERICAN ELECTIONS
George W Bush has finally sworn in as the 43rd President of USA.
What should we note?
(i) American Democracy
Out of a population of over 200 million people on 100 million or
roughly 50% voted and the votes were equally divided between Bush and Gore.
Thus the winner was supported by only 25% of population. 75% of population did
not give him their support.
Gore got 49,859,736 votes
Bush got 49,642,200 votes.
Thus the one who got less votes was the winner!!
(ii) After the outcry over the counting of votes in
Sunday Times reported on 19 November 2000, “ If the dispute is
not resolved by January 2001 when
“Should he prefer not to relinquish his post, the job might fall
to the most senior senator, Strom Thurmond, the 98 year old Republican from
“ Should that shock prove too much, next in succession would be
Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state. SHE HOWEVER, IS DISQUALIFIED
BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT BORN IN
[ But you propose that in
(iii) It was ultimately the U.S Supreme court that decided the
fates of Bush and his opponent Gore. And who appointed the Supreme Court judges
? The American presidents. These are flagrantly political appointments. Out of
the 9 judges 7 were appointed by Republican presidents. And that is democracy!
(iii) Hillary Clinton wife of President Bill Clinton, got
elected as a Senator from
[ why can’t the Indian politicians show the same attitude ? ]
6. Religion and Politics in
On 30 January 2001Toby Harnden reported from
Religion is being brought back to the centre of American
government by President Bush, who cites his Christianity as underpinning his own
brand of ‘compassionate conservatism.’
Announcing that religious and community organisations would be
eligible for billions of dollars in government funding yesterday, Mr Bush
gathered 35 Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish Muslim and secular leaders at the
white House. ( what happened to the Hindus ? were they invited ? we do not
think so. It is not in our blood even to protest at such treatment )
“ They were all people, he said, who had ‘heard the universal
call to love a neighbour like they’d like to be loved themselves. ( Has nobody
told him that Muslims call Hindus as Kafirs and have no neighbourly love for
them. We think not we Hindus still believe in Sarva Dharma Samabhava ) who
exist and work hard, not out of the love of their fellow human beings.”
Mr Bush said a White House office would be established to
distribute the money to groups that dealt each day with the ‘deep needs and
real suffering in the shadow of America’s affluence’ including problems of
addiction gang violence and homelessness.
It would be called the White House Office of Faith-based and
Community Initiatives and beheaded by Scott Goldsmith, a Jew and former mayor
of Indianapolis, would act as presidential adviser.
Although Mr Bush was careful to say he would not fund the
religious activities of any group, his initiative provoked criticism from some
on the Left who said it violated the constitutional separation of church and
state. In the early days of his presidency, Mr Bush has made it clear that his
personal religious faith is almost inseparable from his political philosophy.
His inauguration speech contained several biblical references and his education
plan unveiled last week allows parents to use government money to send children
to religious schools.
“ He believes faith is a powerful tool to change lives.” Said
Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman. Some critics said Mr Bush was
foisting religion on Americans without any proof that it could do a better job
than government. Others feared that he could be planning to cut by curtailing
government initiatives. Steve Benen , of Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, said a legal challenge might be mounted. “ It’s a misguided
public policy and from a constitutional perspective it’s a nightmare.” he added.
But Mr Bush’s advisers have calculated that his proposals will
find favour with a majority of Americans and draw support in Congress.
Survey show that around half of Americans go to church at least
twice a month. Senator Joe Lieberman, an orthodox Jew who ran for vice-president,
has frequently spoken of the need for the government to promote faith-based
groups.
Mr Bush renewed his commitment to Christianity at about the age
of 40 with the help of Billy Graham, the evangelical preacher ( In the 1960s Mr
Graham openly stated, ‘unless you come to the feet of Christ you will not get
salvation’ ) and gave up drinking. A Methodist, he reads the
Bible every day and attends church at least once a week.
His belief in the value of faith-based organisations grew from
discussions with Marvin Olasky, one of the first proponents of ‘Compassionate
conservatism.’
Mr Bush hopes that his support for faith-based initiatives will
help him to build bridges with black voters, only nine per cent of whom voted
for him in November’s elections.
Our Comments :- As always Hindus will be the losers. Hindu
religion is not mentioned even once in this article.
7
SOME IMPORTANT NOTES RELATING TO GANDHI MURDER TRIAL
( continued from newsletter 35 )
28. Why was Gopal Godse finally released ?
Gopal Godse,
younger brother of Nathuram Godse who shot Gandhi dead was sent to jail after
the trial. When questions were being asked about his date of release Government
of India and Government of Bombay province
( which became
Government of Maharashtra in May 1960 ) kept on saying,
“ Gopal Godse’s release it is entirely at our
discretion. We may detain him as
long as we like. “
Gopal Godse made
several appeals. These were all rejected by the Supreme Court of India.
Eventually a hearing was due to take place at the Supreme Court at
Gopal Godse was
sentenced to Transportation for Life
by the Special Judge Atma Charan. High Court at Simla confirmed that sentence.
What is transportation ?
Savarkar was
transported to
(
He was kept in
jail in Ambala and then
10 October 1964
was a Saturday. Gulzarilal Nanda the Home Minister of Government of India
visited
Gopal Godse was
sentenced to transportation for life.
As he was not transported to anywhere his sentenced should have been commuted
to a life sentence of 14 years ( maximum ) under section 402 of the Indian
Criminal Procedure Code and also section
section 55 of the Indian Penal Code. This the Government of India had failed to
do. So, instead of facing a humiliating hearing in the Supreme Court, the GOI
decided to release Gopal Godse immediately, not because the Congress leaders
had a change of heart or felt any sympathy for Gopal Godse. The order of
release was made under section 401 of the Indian Criminal Procedures Code. This
section deals with powers of the Government to show clemency. What a travesty
of justice!! Godse was in jail for more than 16 years. He was entitled to
various remissions for example on the occasion of
8. BEHAVIOUR OF CHRISTIANS AND
MUSLIMS TODAY
8.1 THE CHRISTIANS
8.1.2 CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM
IN
In our previous newsletter we drew readers' attention to rising
tide of Christian Fundamentalism in
New Scientist, the monthly magazine gave full details in its
issue of 22 April 2000. It contains a "Special Report" entitled
Burning Darwin. It states, " From Kansas to
Shree Godbole has a copy of this issue
NOTE :- Why should Hindus be concerned ?
The dangers are far reaching. This right wing fanaticism is
spreading in
The Daily Telegraph of 15
February reported ‘
Has the U.S ever engaged in
germs warfare ?
The answer is yes. U.S effectively used germ warfare on its
indigenous population.
In a treaty made between the Ihanktonwan ( People of Village ),
a band of the Lakota ( Sinoux ) People in 1858, U.S President James Buchanan
retained the option of reducing annuity payments or suspending them entirely if
the Ihanktonwan population happened to decrease.
It’s believed that a decrease was engineered by the President’s
agents distributing blankets infected by with smallpox virus, and by stealing
treaty goods intended for the native peoples.
Smallpox began decimating native communities from as early as
1514, when it was introduced into
Disease was an overwhelming and governing factor for the
estimated 90per cent drop in native populations between 1492 and 1900.
Smallpox, but cholera, measles, whooping cough, mumps,
tuberculosis, scarlet fever and influenza took a greater toll than warfare or
starvation.
( Ref :- Daily Mail of
8 August 2001, p53 / Coffee Break )
8.2 THE MUSLIMS
8.2.1 MUSLIM LIBERALS MUST
SPEAK OUT
On 1 November 2000 The Daily Telegraph published a letter by one
Charles Allen of
Islam places high value on virtue ( maruf) and moral citizenship (salah) but
the good Muslim is " one who submits" to the divine truth. He must
follow the Five Pillars of Islam and the Six Pillars of Faith. He has a
religious duty as a mujahid or "striver" to spread Islam through
conversion of unbelievers and the extermination unbelief. This striving is
often called the Sixth Pillar of Islam, jihad, usually interpreted as
"holy war against unbelievers."
And this is where the trouble starts. The Prophet Mohammed
called for the words of God as transmitted to him and set down in the Koran to
be taken at face value. The Koran (not unlike the Old Testament) contains many
passages calling for the extermination of Kafirs (deniers) and those who commit
the sin of blasphemy by rejecting conversion.
The so-called Verses of the Sword exhorts Muslims to " seek
out, ambush, besiege, seize and slay unbelievers wherever they may be found,
unless they are converted to Islam." Violence against unbelievers and
blsaphemers is also sanctioned by the example of the Prophet himself.
How then is the good Muslim to live at peace with his kafir
neighbour without losing the true spirit of 'jihad' or betraying his faith ?
........
Until Muslim liberals here and abroad have the courage to speak
out publicly against this fundamentalist view of Islam and show that an
acceptable alternative exists, we must afford Rushdie the protection to which
he is entitled as a British subject.
8.2.2 SAUDI JUSTICE
On 12 May 2000 The Independent carried a letter by Mr Roger
Smith of Amnesty International. He wrote
Rupert Cornwall writes that if
Now is unquestionably the time for urgent reform for those who
are in prison without charge, facing a punishment that may include amputation,
flogging or death: who have had no opportunity to defend themselves or to be
defended; who may not know what charges have been brought against them; and
whose first realisation that they are to be executed is when they are brought
to the place of execution on a Friday morning.
When will
8.2.3 Destruction of Buddha
statues in
On 13 March 2001 Robert Fisk reported for The Independent. He says
The Taliban, the Buddhas and the Saudi connection.
The destruction of the great Buddhist statues in
For it was Saudi Arabia’s rigid Sunni Wahabi sect that created
the Taliban, and it was Saudi Muslim legal iconoclasm that led directly to the
wrecking of the Buddhas.
The ruin of the massive statues in Bamiyan has tell-tale origins
in
And 10 years ago, only weeks after the Lebanese professor Kemal
Salibi wrote a book suggesting that Jewish villages in what is now
Saudi organisations have bulldozed hundreds of historic
buildings in the name of religion in Mecca and Medina, and former United
Nations officials have condemned the destruction of Ottoman-style buildings in
Bosnia by a Saudi aid agency that decided they were “ idolatrous. “
When the Saudi Sunnis built the massive Faisal mosque in the
Pakistani capital
There is, in fact, nothing “ Islamic “ in the desecration of the
Bamiyan statues. For 1,400 years, as the writer Emran Qureshi has noted, pious
Muslims managed to coexist with pagan statuary – from the Spinx in
In
But, no American “demarches “ have been made to the oil rich
princes whose alliance with the United States is so important and whose
dominating Wahabi sect condemned the Bamiyan statues.
8.2.4 Fantasy of Islamic
brotherhood
Our Muslim friends are never tired of telling us that the whole
Islamic world is one. You hurt one Muslim and you will face the wrath of whole
of Islamic world. Is this true ? Let us see :-
Zahid Mubarek, 19, was sentenced to 90 days in Feltham young
offenders’ institution for shoplifting 6 pounds worth of razor blades and
interfering with a motor vehicle.
Tragically, five hours before he was due to be released, while
his family were preparing a welcome home celebration, Zahid was beaten to death
with a wooden table leg by his cell mate, Robert Stewart, 20, a racist
psychopath with a history of violence who was on remand for sending malicious
communications. ( The Guardian 2
November 2000, p21)
But what happened to the Islamic brotherhood ? Any
demonstrations in
Take another example. On 7 June 2001 it was reported in Metro, ‘ An Asian man was badly beaten
by skinheads in a new instance of racial violence in
Did this case arouse any feeling of resentment in the Islamic
world? Absolutely not.
How many more examples do we need ?
It is time we learnt the truth and convince fellow Muslims of
the same.
9 WHY WE CANNOT SPEAK THE TRUTH
Too frightened to blow the whistle.
The Daily Telegraph of 10 December 1999 carried an important
letter by Father Luke Millar of
That fear of theirs, that the system can be so vindictive as to
wreak revenge on whistle-blowers, was even more terrifying to me than the
realisation that involuntary euthanasia is common practice in hospitals.
I was a coward and did not create a fuss. But, kneeling there, I
said a prayer. Perhaps, as your current campaign leads to a change of attitude
and a greater hospital care, that coward's prayer is being answered.
10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful to the following for their help :-
* For making copies of our newsletters and distributing them to
friends
Dina Nath Behl of
* For making copies of our newsletters and sending them to
friends in Pune and
An anonymous friend from Pune
* For studying and making suggestions of improvement in our
writing
Pandit Ramkrishnayya of
* For continuing with slide shows of Godbole's special tour of
Dr Agarkar, of Kalyan,
** Please help by :-
* acknowledging the receipt of this newsletter to the following
address :-
Mr V S Godbole
14 Turnberry Walk
MK41, 8AZ
U.K
E Mail v.godbole3@ntlworld.com
Telephone Number 01234 - 357388
* sending money to Mr Godbole (in pound sterling or Indian
rupees )
* making five copies of this newsletter and sending them to your
friends.
* circulating this newsletter among your friends.
* trying to get parts of this newsletter published in various
newspapers,
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periodicals.
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* purchasing books from Mr Godbole.
VANDE MATARAM