INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH INTO TRUE HISTORY

 

Newsletter No 24 of 16 February 1994

 

1 News and current affairs

 

1.1Taj Mahal and the Great British Conspiracy

This work of Mr Godbole is now being published by Dr Bedekar. A Doctorate has also been awarded by the Institute for Oriental Studies of Thane to Mr Godbole for the above work.

 

1.2 Why Rewrite Indian History ?

This article by Mr Godbole was published in December1982 issue of Itihas Patrika of Thane. Dr Bedekar is now publishing it as a booklet.

 

1.3 Around London Tour

A tour for six workers of RSS from Woolwich, London was organised by Arun Kankani on 6 February. Seven places associated with Savarkar and his compatriots were visited.

 

Mr Kankani has made duplicates of Mr Godbole's 27 slides of the tour, and on his return to India at the end of March intends to make some slide shows.

 

Mr Godbole intends to conduct tours in April and May.

 

1.4 Visitors

Mr Devendra Kainthola, a Marine Engineer from Gadhawal, India met Mr Godbole on 29 December 1993. In May/June 1993 Kainthola he went to Turkey on his way back to India .  At the request of Mr Godbole, he visited a monument in Istanbul called Topkapi. It contains a so called footprint of Prophet Mohammed. Kainthola had taken a photograph of the footprint, and collected more interesting information, this he hopes to give to Mr Godbole in six month's time.

 

Pradeep Athavale, a Radio Engineer in Merchant Navy had come to England for his examinations in Newcastle. He met Mr Godbole on 17 December 1993 and visited some places in Godbole's Around London Tour

 

1.5 Hindu Awakening at last.

Hare Ram Hare Krishna mandir in Watford is to close down at the end of March due to intolerance of the Local Council. Pandava Sena held a vigil there on 13 February at 5 p.m. Hindus from all parts of England participated. Pandava Sena is a recent Hindu Youth movement. For further information please contact Segal Gor on

081-381-2054 or Dipa or Parekh on 0992-650331.

 

1.4 American Elections

On 4 November 1992 Bill Clinton won the presidential election in America. At that time both he and his main rival George Bush said, " America is the greatest nation on earth." Ross Perot the independent candidate said, " American people are the greatest in the world."  When did you hear Indian leaders say similar words about India ?

 

1.5 Might is Right

In October 1993 Russian President Boris Yeltsin wanted to get rid of the council of people's deputies, so he simply signed a decree to that effect, and called for a referendum on his proposed constitution which would give him enormous powers and called for fresh elections to the council of deputies. The deputies resisted, saying that Yeltsin had no authority to dissolve their council. But the military backed Yeltsin, and he won. Though his action was dictatorial, western governments supported him as he would follow their policies.

 

1.6 Our Slavish Mentality

1.6.1. British rule in India

A friend of Mr Godbole recently visited the House of Commons, later he said, " I saw the place from where the British ruled the world for 500 years."

Mr Godbole said, " How do you count 500 years ? The East India Company was founded only in 1600, are you saying that as soon as the trading company was started they ruled over the world ?"

" If not 500, surely they ruled for 300 years ? " said the friend

" Still not true." said Godbole, " In 1794, just 200 years ago. Mahadji Shinde, and Nana Phadnavis were alive and the Marathas were quite powerful."

" O.K. o.k. but the British ruled over us for at least 200 years " argued the friend.

" Not quite. " said Mr Godbole, "The British defeated Maratha Peshwa in 1818. Their rule over the area formerly ruled by Marathas, lasted for 129 years. British defeated the Sikhs in 1849. British rule over Punjab and the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh lasted for only 98 years. We accept that the British once ruled India, but let us get it into perspective. Compare their short rule with 300 year rule of Ottoman Turks over the Greeks, and 600 year rule of Arabs over Spain and Portugal."

 

1.6.2. Degree  Convocations

Mr Godbole passed his examination of Diploma in Management studies of Polytechnic of Central London ( now University of Westminster ) in September 1991. Out of curiosity, he attended the Presentation Ceremony on 19 November 1991. On that occasion he was given a booklet explaining the history behind the ceremony. It reads, " The ceremony in which we are engaged is one of great antiquity. Its essential features have been the same since the twelfth century when the first universities came into existence under church authority. At that time, the only person who could license a teacher was the bishop of a diocese. As learning spread, teachers wanted a licence to teach not just in one diocese but everywhere and only person who could give them such authorisation was the Pope."

 

" Following the Reformation, King Henry VIII assumed for the Crown of England all the rights which had previously been Pope's. That is why all subsequent degree awarding bodies have been created by Royal Charter. Today's awards are given under the authority of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNNA), which was set up by Royal Charter in 1964............."

 

" In the twelfth century all academic staff have been called ' masters.' The word degree comes from the Latin gradus, meaning a step. When a student is admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science or Engineering, he moves one step towards the mastership. When he is admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Science, he climbs another step to the level of the masters."

 

" The gowns worn by receiving students and academics are derived from the everyday dress of the medieval clergy. In the Middle Ages they were not open in front but closed like clergymen's cassock. The beginning of the sixteenth century saw academics wearing the open at the front to display the fine clothes they were wearing underneath. The hood, the normal medieval headwear, soon acquired a coloured lining."

 

" By the seventeenth century these colours were controlled so that anyone could tell from the colour of a graduate's hood what his degree was and by whom it was conferred. Today, those wearing blue and gold are receiving a degree conferred by the CNAA. There is a range of colours for CNAA higher degrees. Those in claret and grey are wearing the colours of The Polytechnic of Central London."

 

We thus note that the dresses have changed. There is no reason why the women should wear the same dresses as men, that is really silly. Moreover why should Indian Universities follow the West, in this respect ? We must follow our own traditions. If we do not have them we can create new ones. Veer Savarkar raised this point when he was conferred an honorary degree of D. Litt by Poona University in 1959. (Senate resolution April / Convocation October / Dr Karve, the Vice Chancellor and other members of the senate called on Savarkar on 8 October 1959 ). But Wrangler R.P.Paranjape pooh-poohed the idea, saying - how many of us now have the shikha and dress like our ancestors ?  Interestingly enough, he was a member of the Indian Rationalist Association for a long time. What rational explanation could he give for wearing the silly mediaeval dresses of monks at the convocation ceremony of Poona University which was founded after Indian independence ? None, except his mental slavery. There are plenty of regional variations in India and we had a long tradition of learning, which should be reflected in the dresses worn for the Degree

award ceremonies.

 

1.7 Truth - who likes it ? who wants to know ?

1.7.1. During the 1992 election campaign the Conservatives once again proclaimed

" We have reduced taxes " And people believed them and re-elected them. In fact total taxes have gone up during past 14 years of their rule. There are two types of taxes. Direct - the well known income tax, and the Indirect. Conservatives have reduced income tax by raising indirect taxes - which are easy for the people to forget. In the very first budget in 1979 Sir Jeffrey Howe, reduced the rate of income tax from 33 to 30 % but raised the Value Added Tax from 7 1/2% to 15 %. And they have increased the indirect taxes ever since. In fact before the 1992 elections, they borrowed money and reduced the rate of income tax. After the elections they raised the income tax by cleverly disguising it. Tax allowances were frozen or made applicable at lower rate. There is tax on air travel, on insurance policies, even on fuel!

 

It was a folly for the Labour Party to publish their alternative budget, before the elections. Conservatives made a meal of it and frightened the voters . Labour warned that Conservatives would raise VAT. But people did not believe them till it happened. At the time of election the voters did not want to know.

 

In January 1994 the truth could no longer be hidden. On 13 January the Times reported on its front page - Tax, how you were better off under Dennis Healey ( The last labour chancellor )

On Saturday the 15 January, even Sun the strongly right wing paper admitted - people were better off under labour.

On Sunday the 23 January all the weeklies reported the same story. On 25th the Guardian  produced tables showing how taxes under Labour were less than under the Tories.

 

Even this is part of the story. So many social security benefits have disappeared under the Tories that it is difficult to remember what they were. Here are just a few which have been abolished or reduced :-

* Unemployment benefit is now paid only for 6 months, as against 12 months.

* Earnings related supplement for the unemployed was abolished.

* Unemployment benefit is subjected to tax.

* Student grants have been slashed. They are going to reduced still further by 30 % over the next three years. Students no longer get any housing benefits, or unemployment benefits during their vacations. Parents do not get any rebate on their contribution to their son's /daughter's maintenance. On top of it, government wants to make it illegal to protest against its policy on student grants!

* It is now impossible to find a Dentist who will offer you treatment on the National Health.

* Eye testing is no longer free.

* Prescription charges have gone up every year for last 14 years. Sometimes the medicines are cheaper than the prescriptions!

David Mellor, the Secretary of State for National Heritage was forced to resign in 1993 for his extra-marital affair with model Antonia de Sancha. He had the audacity to write in the Evening Standard of 24 January an article entitled Why swingering tax rises are the only honest answer.

 

1.7.2. In 1988, Bush got elected to presidency of United States. During his election campaign, he said, " watch my lips. no new taxes ." Once again people fell for him. Of course, after the elections he had to raise taxes.

 

1.8 The Russian Coup of 1991.

In August 1991 Russian coup failed. But when it was attempted Western powers said " The Russians must abide by their past commitments but westerners would not do the same. Their abiding by the treaties will depend on behaviour of the new rulers!"

 

The coup failed because Russian soldiers refused to fire on their own people. Dear oh dear. Look at the fine tradition of Indian soldiers . In 1919, they had no hesitation to shoot unarmed men, women and children at Jalianwala Bagh . Both during and after partition of India  ( in 1947 ) horrible atrocities were committed on Hindus in Pakistan. But did it cause any unrest among the soldiers on the borders ? Not a single case of rebellion. See how ferociously they attacked our own kith and kin the Tamil Tigers in Shree Lanka in the 1990s. No wonder we are despised all over the world.

 

It is well worth remembering that during the Rhodesian crisis of 1964/66 Harold Wilson, the  Labour Prime Minister of Britain openly refused to even consider employing  British troops against the rebellious Ian Smith.

 

 

1.9 Forgive and forget

Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus

Sue Masterman reported for the Evening Standard on 21 October 1993,

 students in tear gas raid as queen's tour goes on

" Greek Cypriot students today catapulted tear-gas grenades across the neutral zone of Nicosia during a mass demonstration against the continuing division of the island. ....

As the Queen continued her official programme with no further notable incident, thousands of secondary school children and college students descended on the Ledra Palace Hotel border between the Greek and Turkish sectors. Waving Greek and Cypriot flags, chanting patriotic songs, they confronted a wall of policemen and two successive barbed wire barriers to keep them from entering the zone guarded by British UN troops."

 

" A Royal Artillery barracks only 100 yards away was ignored by the demonstrators, who seemed determined to reach the Turkish side. There were scuffles as police, helped by teachers, managed to hold back dozens of youths trying to push behind barricades. ...."

" But why all this unrest ? In 1974 there was instability in Cyprus. Turkey did not say that Cyprus is an independent sovereign state, how can we invade that island ? or that Turkish Cypriots are dead to us and we are dead to them. They just sent in troops to protect their Turkish kith and kin, used arms and ammunition of NATO, and divided Cyprus. What did the international community do ? Nothing. Turkey was a vital link in NATO defence strategy. It lies on the doorstep of Soviet Union, so Americans would not intervene. 20 years have passed. Should not the Greek Cypriots say that the partition of Cyprus is a settled fact, like the Indians do ? Of course not. They are not Indians led by Gandhi and Nehru."

 

Let us recapitulate what happened in India in 1950. Towards the end of 1949 and in early 1950, there were massacres of Hindus in East Pakistan ( now, Bangladesh ). Hindus fled to West Bengal and were crowded in the most appalling conditions. The tragedy prompted even Jayaprakash Narayan to appeal to Nehru to send in troops to protect the Hindus. Nehru did no such thing. He did not visit the border area to see the conditions himself.

 

Dr N.B.Khare writes, " Mr Ashutosh Lahiri met Nehru and acquainted him with the sorry tale of these Bengali refugees and requested him to render some help to these down-trodden human beings of East Pakistan. Nehru refused to do so as Pakistan was a foreign country to which Ashutosh Lahiri replied, ' Well, you do not do anything. We ourselves will form some armed bands and infiltrate in East Pakistan secretly to help the Hindoos there. You simply connive at it.' Pandit Nehru at once flared up and said, ' If you do so my army will shoot you from behind.' Pandit Nehru might have thought that being a revolutionary, Ashutosh Lahiri might actually do some such thing. Therefore he was put behind the prison bars."

 

" From the above account it would be clear that those who had some sympathy with these Bengali refugees and who wanted to enlist public sympathy, were put behind prison bars, or externed or detained under Preventive Detention Act."

 

( Ref :  My Political Memoirs, by Dr.N.B.Khare, 2nd edition 1971, pp 359/360 )

 

No wonder Churchill called Nehru " Light of Asia " The infamous Nehru-Liaquat Pact was signed on 9th April 1950.

 

1.10 Jobs for the Boys

In the 1956 general elections, quite a few Congress leaders in Maharashtra, lost their seats in the Legislative Assembly. Immediately they were promoted to Governerships of other provinces. For example Mr Gadgil was made Governor of Punjab, Mr Pataskar was made Governor of Madhya Pradesh. Nehru shamelessly said, " The Congress Party has so many able persons. It's a pity we do not have more provinces! "

 

Chris Patten, the Conservative Party chairman lost his seat in the House of Commons during the General Elections of 1992. Immediately he was made Governor of the colony of Hongkong by the British Prime Minister Mr Major.

 

In May 1993 SAFETY management reported, " An Ex-Government minister, known for his strong views on privatisation and deregulation, had been appointed to the Health and Safety Commission ( HSC ) by the Employment Secretary. 46 year-old Christopher Chope, who lost his Southampton Itchen seat to Labour at the last election, took up his part-time post with the tripartite body early last month, when six other Commissioners were also re-appointed. It is the first time in the Commission's history - established 18 years ago by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 - that an ex-minister from any political party has been appointed to the role."

 

Who says Britain does not follow India's example ?

 

1.11 Will they ever learn from history ?

In 1984, Union of Democratic Mineworkers ( UDM ) helped to break the strike called by National Union of Mine workers. Naturally they were much praised by the then Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher. But they are no longer required and have been sold down the drain. Tories have decided to close all the coal mines, including those worked by the UDM, who foolishly often quote Mrs Thatcher.  Why would they not learn from history ?

 

 

1.12 Importance of English

Boris Yeltsin does not speak English. In fact in former Soviet Russia people speak 22 different languages. How do they communicate to each other ? Through English ? NO.

Stalin never spoke a word of English.

BBC 2 showed a four part series on rise of Japan after the second world war. entitled nippon during October/ November 1990 - only a handful of managers spoke English, those involved in export.

  At the height of Kuwait-Iraq conflict ( 1990/91 ) Israel had a foreign minister who did not speak English.

Admitted that English is an important language, but let us not exaggerate its importance. It is irritating to find that In India ( Maharashtra in particular ) schools which impart education in Indian languages are rapidly declining. Even the home-helpers / domestic servants send their children to English medium schools!

 

 

2 Historical findings

2.1 muslim fabrication

Aurangzeb carried out his campaign against the Marathas during 1682 - 1707. An example of how he wanted to falsify the history has recently come to light. Ravivarcha Sakal a Marathi weekly of Pune of 13 September 1992 published an article by Prof P K Ghanekar. He writes, "  Aurangzeb changed the name of Rayagad fort to Islamgad. He even prepared an inscription proclaiming that he erected the fort.  For some unknown reason the stone remained at village Pachod on the foothills of the fort. It was never transported and erected on the fort, and has now disintegrated. A photo of the inscription before disintegration was however taken by Ninad Bedekar an history enthusiast of Pune . We are grateful to Mr N M Datye - father-in-law of Mr Godbole, for this information.

 

2.2 patrya maruti temple in pune

This well known temple in Pune was erected in 1772 in the days of Narayan-rao Peshwa .  It is dedicated to God Hanuman. It is traditional to offer Shendur a red coloured oily substance to the idol. As a result, the original shape of the idol was hidden in layers of this substance. Mr Godbole remembers that the idol looked like a rectangular stone with a bulge in the middle. In April 1952, on the day of Hanuman Jayanti  ( birthday of Hanuman ) all the layers came off and the original idol was revealed. But if a person was stubborn he would say , " I saw that idol for several years. It is just a red stone. There is no need for me to come to Pune to see it again."

They treat our history just the same.

We are grateful to our friend Mr Arun Bhat, for doing search in the offices of Sakal a Mararthi daily of Pune and confirming Mr Godbole's recollection. Mr Bhat obtained a copy of relevant page of Sakal of 10 April 1952.

 

2.3 horrors of the british empire

* Right until 1966, many children from poor families in Britain were forcibly separated from their parents and sent to work in far away places like Australia, Canada and Rhodesia simply because the families were too poor.  It  is  only recently that the size of problem is being revealed. YOU magazine of 15 November 1992 carried an advertisement by The Child Migrant Trust of 8 Kingston Road,  West Bridgeford,  Nottingham  ( Tel No. 0602 - 822811 )

They will help to find the roots of children who were thus affected. In many cases the children were even removed from their natural brothers and sisters - a wicked act. However poor one may be there is always some comfort in family life, there is a sense of belonging. The names  of the children were changed, so that they would not remember who they were, and could not trace their parents and relatives.

 

* Tony Callagher reported for the Daily Mail on 17 July 1993 : lost tribe helpline swamped by parents.

He says, " A helpline was besieged yesterday by emotional families trying to trace sons and daughters who may have been sent to Australia. A Thousand calls followed the TV screening of The Leaving of Liverpool, a drama about the enforced emigration of youngsters. Telephone counsellors established that at least four of the callers had children in Australia who had contacted a Trust giving details of their birth and background."

 

" Pressure is growing for an enquiry into the policy under which 15,000 foster children and youngsters from children's homes were sent abroad to ease pressure on British charities between 1945 and 1967. There is growing evidence that children as young as four were sent to countries such as Australia, Canada and Rhodesia without their parents' knowledge or permission. It has been alleged that many were subjected to gross physical and sexual abuse."

 

" The plight of the children dubbed The Lost Tribe emerged after Nottinghamshire social worker  Margaret Humphreys began receiving letters from people in Australia anxious to trace their families."

 

" The BBC programme, produced jointly with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, was a two-part drama about two children sent to Australia. The second part was screened last night. Calls flooded in to 12 lines after their number screened when the first episode ended on Thursday. At the busiest time there was one every 15 seconds. One counseller said

' Many of the callers were in a terrible state, very upset. They never heard from children they put up for adoption and now, because of this programme realise they may have been in Australia all this time."

 

" A cross-party group of MPs wants the Prime Minister to release all documents relating to the controversial policy and for Mr Major to discuss the issue with Australian primier Paul Keating."

 

2.4 Savarkar's contribution to Indian Historical research.

Some of Savarkar's historical research has been forgotten. We note the following examples. 

Vasco-de-gama sought the help of a Hindu merchant who was trading between India and

East Africa  ( article on overseas Indians published in the Marathi monthly Kirloskar of

October 1934 ) Ref :- Samagra Savarkar Vangamaya volume 3 p 741

Prof Vakankar gave us this information in 1986. See our newsletter no. 14 

Khandesh, a region of Maharashtra has nothing to do with Khan. The name is a corrupt form of Kanha-desh named after Kanha - Lord Krishna.   ( Public speech at Shahade on 13 March 1940 .)  Ref :- Hindu Maha Sabha Parva part 1 1937-40, by Balarao Savarkar  p 313

Mr Oak has simply reiterated this information since 1984 .                              

Kutb Minar in Delhi is not a Muslim creation. It was originally - Vishnu Stambha ( Public lecture number five on Six glorious epochs of Indian History, delivered in January 1953 ) Prof Bhatnagar simply repeated this information in 1977.

Lord Ganesh is a form of the Hindu holy symbol and word OM. ( Article published in

Maharashtra Sharada Sept 1935 ) Mr Shantaram Athavale explained this in his Marathi book  Omkar Rahasya,  published in 1970.

 

3 Behaviour of Christians and Muslims today

3.1 Muslims in France

Conor Cruise O'Brien reported for the Independent on 10 December 1993

A French lesson for Muslims.

" In November the French authorities changed course over the treatment of cultural minorities. Up to then, official policy had been similar, outwardly at least, to that generally prevailing in Britain and the United States. For at least four years, tolerance of cultural diversity was not merely encouraged, but officially presented as a demonstration of Western values in action. But the French are beginning to set limits to this. In Paris, multiculturalism has gone out of fashion."

 

" Four schoolgirls were suspended last month from a state school at Nantua for having presented themselves for class wearing headscarves, thus obeying the orders of their parents against those of the principal. Formally, the school's decision is based on the old laic tradition - a heritage from the French Revolution - that no religious expression of any kind is permitted  in French public schools. The headscarf is seen as the Muslim equivalent of wearing a visible Catholic symbol ( a crucifix on a chain, as it might be ), which has always been banned in this particular context. Thus the authorities can claim not unreasonably, that the headscarf ban involves no specific discrimination against Islam, merely an assertion of the principle that the French state is a secular one, and therefore its school must be strictly secular."

 

" The trouble with this, at present stage, is that the principle - though never, I should think, relaxed where Christian symbols are concerned - has not generally been applied to the dress of Muslim children for more than four years now. The Government allowed principals to set their own rules and most chose to let secularism go by than risk confrontation with Muslim parents."

 

" In some newspapers this international story has been accompanied by an emotive photograph. Two girls, looking about 14 and wearing the now-prohibited headgear, are shown hurrying away from a school playground; they are being watched by two teenagers, of European appearance and dress, with not particularly friendly expressions. Others are playing, and paying no particular attention. That picture carries extremely painful associations of racial and religious persecutions, of official condonation of the same, and of collusion on the part of the general public. One thinks involuntarily of photographs of 60 years ago showing Jewish children wearing the Star of David."

 

" Like so many other analogies, this one is strongly suggestive, up to a certain point. The common feature is the association of distinctive garb with ostracism, and with the pain that implies. Yet the circumstances that gave rise to the wearing of the distinctive garb are widely different. In the Jewish case, the distinctive garb was imposed by the state alone, as a preliminary and prerequisite for a programme of persecution which was to culminate in the Holocaust. In the case of the Muslims of France, the distinctive garb was voluntarily assumed and implied a rejection of the secular state in favour of a theocratic system laid down in a Holy Book. The modern French state did not impose, but prohibits, the wearing of this distinctive garb."

 

" The wearing of the Star of David was imposed by decision of a hostile state. The wearing of the headscarf by children attending secular schools is imposed by the families of the children, in practice primarily by their fathers. The girls suspended from school for wearing the headscarf are victims, not of a persecuting state, but of a Kulturkampf, pitting Muslim families and the Muslim community against the secular state."

 

" The wearing of the headscarf can be seen as a symbol of Islamic self-respect. It can also be seen as a symbol of the subjugation of women to patriarchal values, and their exclusion from the benefits of a secular value-system increasingly oriented towards gender equality. For some at least of the girls concerned, that headscarf must be a symbol not of collective self-respect but of cultural imprisonment ; a psychological Shirt of Nessus. Islam, more than other religions, is triumphalist, not merely sub specie aeternitatis, but here below. This is not, as is often suggested, the advent of something new; Islamic fundamentalism. It is part of the nature of Islam itself, except in contexts where its teachers have been prepared to compromise with the West. A youth brought up on the Koran will be conditioned, by the literal meaning of what he reads, to despise unbelievers, and will expect their undoing to be imminent."

 

" Other forms of revelation also encourage such attitudes, but not as starkly, unremittingly and undeviatingly as with the Koran. There is nothing here equivalent to the Christian

" Render unto  Caesar the things that are Caesar's ." An unbelieving Caesar, such as any Western government, simply has no entitlements, in this world or the next."

 

" Of its nature, therefore, Islam poses a new challenge to post-Enlightenment society and its growth, the secular state. The French are meeting that challenge in a more forthright way than either the American or the British have yet done. A local Turkish imam, Husseyin Konos, urging defiance of the French ban on headscarves, proclaimed the principle:

" Allah's law takes precedence over French law." The French government promptly deported the imam. It also placed Moulay Hassan, an Islamic adviser to the parents of the suspended girls, under house arrest. The French government thereby clearly committed itself to the principle that French Law , within the jurisdiction of the French Republic, takes precedence over Allah's law."

 

" I believe that message to be a salutary one, not merely to Western society, but also to Muslims who have chosen to live within Western jurisdictions . And especially to Muslim women. Neither the British nor the American authorities have yet adopted as clear-cut a position as the French authorities now have. It is true that both John Major and Bill Clinton, by receiving Salman Rushdie, have implicitly challenged the applicability of " Allah's law"

( at least as laid down in Tehran ) to British and American society. Yet, in Britain at least, those who uphold the infliction of death penalty on British subjects for blasphemy against Islam can still do so with impunity. These particular matters are better ordered, in my opinion, in France."

 

3.2 On 13 January 1994 , BBC Radio 5 reported on the plight of Marsh Arabs of Iraq. They are Shias and live on the marshes on the border between Iraq and Iran. Iraq has dammed and drained the water to the marshes. As a result there is no drinking water, no fish, no water for the cattle. The Marsh Arabs are therefore forced to flee to Iran. So much for the Islamic brotherhood of man!

 

3.3 On Sunday 12 December 1993 BBC Radio 4 reported in the religious programme ( 0730 to 0830 )  Catholic Church authorities have decided to close St Phill 6th form college in Birmingham as the Catholic students are now in a minority and even they do not attend Catholic ceremonies. The authorities could not care less about the future of non-Catholic students.

 

3.4 On Sunday 9 January 1994  BBC Radio 4 reported at 0830 :- Evangelical Christians in Iran are not allowed to preach in Parsee ( Persian ) which Muslims understand. Also the Church authorities must report any Muslims attending Church service.

Readers should remember that according to Koran any Muslim who wants to change his faith faces death.

 

3.5 Howard Smith reported for the Evening Standard on 25 January 1994 : schools must put christian teaching first.

" Schools have been ordered to concentrate on teaching children about Christianity in religious education. Government advisers insist that Christianity is the central core of lessons and should take up at least half the time in the RE syllabus. Millions of schoolchildren will also have to study five other main religions - Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Judaism."

" The blueprint, unveiled by education minister Baroness Blatch today, sets out two models for future lessons on faith. ....... The model syllabuses aim to  :

Reflect the fact that the religious traditions of Britain are, in the main, Christian.

Take account of the other principal religions in the country. . There will be restrictions in primary schools on the number of alternative religions

that children should study, which will anger some religious groups....."

 

" Traditionalists have already warned that the split between Christianity and other faiths recommended in the new guidelines, drawn up by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, will confuse young children. They say that the vital lessons of the Christian faith will be lost as children struggle to understand the basics of other religions."

 

4. Christianity - some doubts

4.1 Ruth Gledhill reported for the TIMES on 20 December 1993 :

bishop of durham denies bible story of christmas.

He says, " THE Star of Bethlehem did not exist, the Three Wise Men and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were mythical, and there are doubts over whether there really was ' no room at the inn ' In Bethlehem. This was the Christmas message yesterday from the Bishop of Durham, Dr David Jenkins. In line with a tradition he has made peculiarly his own, he continued to cast doubt on the basic tenets of the Christian faith. "

" While Dr Jenkins received support from some senior churchmen, including the Bishop of St Albans, the Right Rev John Taylor, another prominent Anglican, the Environmental Secretary, John Gummer, said : " It will be a relief when great festivals of the Christian year are not hijacked by the Bishop of Durham and his personal publicity machine. The teaching of the Church is very clear. All over the world millions will be rejoicing in the supreme fact that God came to earth as a baby, born of the Virgin Mary."

 

" Dr Jenkins's latest challenge to conventional belief came after a week in which he rejected the concept of eternal hell and the second coming of Christ. The Church of England's doctrine commission is now debating salvation, including the concepts of death, judgement, heaven and hell, and is thought likely also to reject the concept of physical hell fire."

 

" Dr Jenkins speaking on BBC !'s Breakfast with Frost, said the account of the star guiding the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem and other parts of Christmas story were mythical. Describing some of the stories as ' splendidly symbolic ' he concluded there was no virgin birth. He did not believe Three Wise Men delivered gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus; people realised over a period who Jesus was, and it would not have been known at his birth. He had also ' begun to wonder ' about there being no room at the inn.

' Who knows ? ' he said. "

 

" Challenging the story of the ' star of special brightness ' he said ; ' these stories are so splendidly symbolic and pick up so many echoes both from prophecies and the Old Testament .... that I think they are stories composed by the early church out of their faith.'  The birth narratives appear only in the Gospels of Matthew and Like. In 1986, partly in response to Dr Jenkins's statements on the virgin birth, a church report said ; ' We acknowledge and uphold this the virginal conception as expressing the faith of the Church and its historic teaching."

 

" His remarks provoked an immediate outcry among MPs, although his fellow bishops seemed sanguine. Dame Jill Knight ( C, Edgbaston ) said : ' The Bishop does no good to the Church. For centuries, faithful people have believed that the Bible spoke the truth. He seems determined to destroy the faith of those simple believers.' Godffrey Dickens ( C, Littleborough and Saddleworth ) said : ' He is desroying the faith of millions of believers.'

 

" Anglican bishops were reluctant to counter the attack. Traditionalists and evangelicals are looking forward to his retirement next year and believe the best policy is to keep silent. Many liberals secretly agree with all he says. But Bishop Taylor, a member of the doctrine commission, blamed the media for resurrecting Dr Jenkins's remarks on hell, originally made some weeks ago at a lay readers' conference in the Rochester diocese."

 

" There was more support for the bishop from a senior church spokesman last night. He said : ' Dr Jenkins is deeply concerned to communicate the Christian faith in a way that he feels is intelluctually acceptable for today. He will antagonise others. He is certainly successful in creating debate about matters of Christian faith."

 

4.2 Midweek, a freely distributed weekly of London carried an advertisement in the April 15/19 1993 issue ( page 21 ) It reads :

The  Theosophical Society presents

DID JESUS OF NAZARETH REALLY DIE ON THE CROSS ?

INDEED WAS HE CRUCIFIED AT ALL ?

These and associated mysteries are investigated in :

COVER-UP

THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS CHRIST ?

Sunday 18 April 1993, 11.15 am-4.30 PM at 50 Gloucester Place, London W1H 3 HJ.

For details of this and other events in the field of human spirituality ring 071-935-9261 or send a self addressed envelope to Dept MW 93/5 The Theosophical Society at above address.

 

We requested our member Bhupendra Patel to attend the meeting, but he could not go because he had promised to take his friend back to Luton after the London Marathon.

 

5. True nature of Western Liberals

5.1 The British Liberals.

On 10 April Amit Roy reported in the Sunday Observer , " Sikh martyr issue rakes up controversy in UK." He says :-

 

" Controversy is raging over whether a street or a public building in the West London borough of Hounslow, where a fifth of the population is of Indian origin, should be named after Udham Singh. He was hanged nearly 50 years ago for the assassination of Sir Michael O'Dwyer who was lieutenant governor of Punjab during the Jalianwala Bagh massacre on April 14, 1919."

 

"Udham Singh held O'Dwyer to be the real culprit even though the order to fire was given by brigadier general Reginald Dyer, the British officer commanding the troops in Amritsar. Udham Singh tracked O'Dwyer to London in 1937 and shot him dead at a public meeting three years later. He was convicted at a two-day old Bailey trial  and hanged at Pentonville prison in London on July 31, 1940. Udham Singh's final court speech in which he claimed he was dying for his country was suppressed."

 

" In 1974 his exhumed remains were flown to Delhi and given a martyr's welcome by Zail Singh, the then Punjab chief minister, and by Mrs Gandhi who remarked, " We are glad that after a gap of 34 years the ashes of Udham Singh, who sacrificed his life for the independence of India have reached Indian soil."

 

" The lobby to honour Udham Singh includes six Asian councillors in Hounslow, led by Sanjiv Vedi, 27 who works for a local law centre. Four of them are Sikhs and two, including Vedi, Hindu Punjabis. Vedi has failed to get a new community theatre in Hounslow, named after Udham Singh, but he will renew his attempt this Wednesday ( April 13 ) the 69th anniversary of the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh."

 

" Vedi's view that Udham Singh committed a ' political act ' is strongly opposed by his white labour colleagues. One of them Peter Smith, called Udham Singh a " terrorist."

Another  local labour politician, Peter Pitt, wants the party to adopt a resolution that

" under no circumstances should any area in Hounslow be named after Udham Singh on the grounds that he was in the final analysis a murderer." ........ Meanwhile Britain's home office confirmed yesterday that official British papers  on Udham Singh will be kept secret for 75 years until the year 2016 because of their "sensitivity."

 

5.2 The American Liberals.

Linda Cox obtained a Ph D for her research on the Chitpavan Brahmins, the caste which produced Justice Ranade, Gokhale, Phadke, Chaphekar, and Savarkar. She studied at the Deccan College, Pune . And yet in her Thesis published in 1970 she calls Phadke, Chaphekar and Savarkar as terrorists!

 

6 History today

6.1 American and British spying in Russia.

In Newsletter no. 22 we revealed the details of American Air Force's flying missions over Soviet Russia, in flagrant violation of international law, after World War II.

Channel 4 revealed more details in the programme Secret History  on Thursday 9 February. To pretend that US Air Force was not involved, the planes belonging to the CIA were used. 

40 aircraft were shot down, 250 aircrew's lives were lost. A CIA historian admits that much of this policy is still secret, and was often withheld from American Presodents.

 

On 1 May 1960, the Russians shot down a U2 spy plane and caught Garry Powers, the pilot red handed.  It was then that the world knew of the clandestine activities of the Americans. Nikita Kruschev promptly asked for the resignation of the head of the CIA. Eisenhover refused and the peace talks were stalled.

There was collusion between Britain and America. American planes were camouflaged as RAF planes, and RAF pilots took part in spying missions for the Americans. Once again this was in flagrant violation of the international law. But as the British were doing it in the name of democracy and the free world ( i.e  for neo colonial and American interests ) that was perfectly alright.

 

6.2 The Plight of the American Indians

1993 was designated as UN year of the indigenous people. Not much has happened. But in Australia, the government has recognised the land rights of the aborigines.

 

On 23 and 30 January 1991 BBC 2 showed a two part documentary on the plight of American Indians  in the Timewatch series. Part I was entitled  ;Savagery and the American Indians - wilderness. Part II was : Civilisation

It is a sad story of Indians in USA who have vanished. A story of 500 years of holocaust.

ITV also showed  a three part series Before Columbus in September 1992.

The main points are -

* European settlers brought with them diseases such as Smallpox, Plague, Cholera, Measles. Indians were isolated from outside world for 10,000 years. They had no immunisation system built in their bodies. As a result large population died. The Pilgrims found huge areas empty due to deaths of Indians.

* There were several massacres of Indians. The first one recorded happened in May 1630 by the  Puritans on the Mystic river. This pattern was repeated and considered as normal.

* General Philip Sheredon is famous for his saying " The only good Indian is a dead Indian."

* The white man would agree one thing verbally and write down something completely different.

* And even these Treaties were flouted by the white man.

* In 1830 Indians were forced to travel 1200 miles to their Reservations. 4,000 Indians died during this move. US Supreme Court ruled this act illegal. But Andrew Jackson, who was known to be a Indian hater, refused to honour the Supreme Court ruling.

* Treaties made by US government were not ratified by the Congress on the grounds that they were too favourable to the Indians.

* Though there was a peace treaty between the Shayan Indians, they were massacred at Sandcreek, the bodies of the dead were mutilated.

* In 1868 the USA army was defeated by Su Indians at Fort Larami. But the Indians were no match for the double dealings of the whiteman. The white hunters simply killed the buffaloes on a massive scale, denying the Indians of their food. In fact 60 million buffaloes were killed!.

* When mining prospectors came they flouted the treaties between the Indian tribes and the US government.

* In 1876 General Castrad was shot, so the Sioux Indians were rounded up.

* December 1890 - 300 men women and children of Indians were massacred at Wounded Knee in South Dakota.

* Thus the population of Indians fell from nearly 5 million before Columbus ( 1492 ) to 3/4 million in 1890.

 

Not satisfied with the massacres , the whiteman decided that the Indians must be

forcibly civilised. In 1883 US government outlawed Sioux civilisation/ religion/ language at Backhills,

* Conversion to Christianity was the first step. Reservations were divided into churches. All native ceremonies were banned and outlawed. Everything sacred to the Indians was burned.

* Children of the age of six were taken away from their families by force and sent to schools hundreds of miles away. If the parents refused, they were denied rations.

* Boarding Schools were harsh / regimental / militarised.

* The boys were asked to work on farms or workshops for half the day - a cheap labour. The work did not impart any useful skills.

* Use of Indian language was banned, as language is a source of one's identity.  Any violation of the ban was severely punished by beatings / whippings. One punishment was this - a rubber band would be put in the mouth, pulled and released, causing severe injury to the lips.

* Some boys tried to run away, they were rounded like stray cattle.

* Hundreds of boys died.

* In 1920s it was evident that the policy of forced assimilation was a disaster. It was abandoned.

 

Back on the reservations every effort was made to destroy the Indian culture.

* In 1887 US Congress passed the Allotment Act. Beginning with Minnesota the Reservations were reduced. Indian territories were sold by the Government. Most valuable land was sold to white settlers. Only 167 acres per family was left on the reservations. And that land was divided  - something alien to the Indians. Their philosophy was : how can you own land ? It is created by God. It belongs to the tribe, not the individuals.

* Bureau of Indian Affairs was part of the War Department. Indians required permission for everything  even visiting friends or growing crops. 

* By 1947 Indians were relocated in cities and towns where they faced discrimination and unemployment.

 

Condition of Indians is bleak. True, 1.8 million of them still survive. But they are the

poorest ethnic group in America today. They are in a cultural limbo. They have lost their roots, their identity, their traditions, their connections with the past. They have a deep inner resentment towards the whites. They are not immigrants, they cannot melt in the white society. Half live on reservations in extreme poverty.

 

IT IS A HISTORY OF WHICH EVERY WHITE AMERICAN SHOULD BE ASHAMED .

And yet in 1988 Ronald Reagan the American President had the audacity to say in Moscow, " We provided the Indians with millions of acres of land on the reservations where they maintained their way of life. We provided education for them. Bureau of Indian Affairs was there to help them. They are also free to leave the reservations and become like us if they chose. We have done everything we can."

 

Readers should read the book  coyote waits by Tony Hillerman  published in February 1991.

 

 

7 Why we cannot tell the truth

In August 1993 Occupational Safety & Health reported :-  whistle blowers victimised

 

People who complain to the ( Health and Safety Executive ) HSE about unhealthy working conditions run the risk of being victimised or even sacked, according to an employment medical adviser from Edinburgh, Dr Frazer Kennedy. " It has been my experience that a witch-hunt often follows the calling in of the HSE by an employee," he said at a conference organised by the RCN Scottish OH Nurses' Forum.

 

HSE director general, John Rimington, a speaker at the conference, commented that he had not the slightest doubt that there was victimisation. " It is absolutely disgraceful," he said. " Where we can get evidence, we will pursue the matter - but there is a difficulty in getting information."

 

Dr Kennedy told OS & H that where people who made complaints requested anonymity, every possible step was taken to comply. But sometime it was obvious who had blown the whistle. " For example, I once asked to visit a company which was on our list as having a dozen employees, but when I got there I found there were only three people in total - the managing director, his brother and the man who had registered the complaint!" Dr Kennedy said it was better if the complainants agreed their names could be used, but where they did not want to stick their necks out he sometimes asked a factory inspector to visit first and request a follow up by an employment medical adviser ( EMA )

If a factory inspector calls, it can be passed off as a routine visit. If an EMA calls, it cannot. The only problem is that the process complained of may not be in evidence during a " routine " visit.

 

 

8 How the history gets falsified even today

rss and gandhi 

RSS workers have always denied that they were formed to protect Hindus in the wake of Muslim riots.  Their love for congress leaders who always despised RSS is beyond belief.

Organiser, their English weekly carried an editorial in the Deepavali Special issue of 1988. The editor says, " ... That the RSS was the result of only Hindu-Muslim riots as some professional secularists and motivated historians would have us believe, is a dangerously simplistic platitude. ..... It is pertinent to recall that the enormity of the one-sided, anti-Hindu riots in Malbar, Kohat and elsewhere in early twenties had made even Gandhiji cry out that " The Hindu is a coward, the Muslim is a bully" and he had even started a protest fast in the house of Maulana Mohammad Ali in Delhi ... " ( Gandhiji's words were  -" ..  in my experience, every Hindu is a coward and every Muslim , a bully ; but I will teach non-violence at least to Hindus." )

 

Let us get some facts straight. In August-December 1921 terrible atrocities were

committed on Hindus by Moplas in Malbar ( Kerala ). According to Servants of India Society report, 1,500 Hindus were killed, 20,000 Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam,  property worth 3 krores of rupees  (  £3 million at 1921 prices ) was destroyed. But Gandhi was unmoved. He wrote ," ...brave, god-fearing Moplas who were fighting for what they consider as religion and in a manner which they consider as religious.... " Gandhi did fast on 19th to 21st November 1921, but for disturbances in Bombay. He was at Bombay from 17th to 26th November.

 

The Mopla riots were followed by more Muslim riots in Amethi, Sambhal, Gulburga and Kohat. During the Kohat riot of 9 - 10 September 1924 a whole population of Hindus consisting of about 20,000 were looted, pillaged, plundered and forced to migrate elsewhere. Some 155 Hindus were killed and property worth 9 lakhs of rupees ( £90,000 at 1924 prices ) was destroyed. Even Mrs Sarojini Naidu wrote,

" Speeches and homilies on peace would not do." At this time Gandhi was in Delhi, and he did start a 21 day fast in the house of Maulana Muhammad Ali, starting from 17th September 1924. But that was for the meaningless phrase hindu-muslim unity. It was not against Muslim atrocities, there was no appeal to Muslims to stop attacks on Hindus, and to return hindu property. 

[ Ref :- Dr Hedgewar, a biography in Marathi by N H Palkar, 3rd edition 1987, pp 102, 127/8.

gandhi : 1915-1948 a detailed chronology, by Mr C.B.Desai. 1971, pp 43, 53, 204.

Hindu Mahasabha : its Contribution to India's Politics by Indra Prakash, 1966, p 23. ]

 

The Kohat tragedy prompted a special session of Hindu Mahasabha in Belgaum in December 1924. Pandit Malviya was the President. Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru and even the Ali Brothers attended the session.  But what was Gandhi's advice to Hindus ?

At this stage Gandhi said, " And yet I must ask the Hindus even today, to die and not kill."

 

The editor continues, " ... There is little doubt that Gandhiji, a staunch Hindu, despite his disastrous bargaining proclivities, was being drawn closer to RSS. "  Once again no iota of proof is offered. The editor must be living in outer space. RSS was founded in 1926, Gandhi was killed in 1948. When did he ever say a single word of praise for RSS ? Congressites had condemned RSS as a communal organisation. When did Gandhi reprimand/ rebuke them and said that RSS was a petriotic organisation ?  

 

 

8. Acknowledgement

We are grateful to the following for their help :-

For posting copies of our newsletters in India  :-

Arvind Kulkarni, Manohar Rakhe, Dr Tanaji Acharya, Mukund Nawathe, Suresh Paithankar all of England, Pradeep Athavale of Pune, Mrs Nandini Datye of USA.

For posting copies of our newsletters in America :-

Dr Atul Joshi

For donating £10 each for our cause :-

Dr Acharya, Kumar Singham who is now in Australia.

For donating Rs 5,000 for publication of Mr Godbole's booklet Why Rewrite Indian History

Dr N.K.Bhide of Pune.

 

9. Publicity and Appreciation

Mr Godbole's article on Veer Savarkar was reprinted in the Sept-Oct 1993 issue of Sangh-Sandesh.

 

Please help by :-

* acknowledging  the receipt of this newsletter to the following address

                                  Mr V.S.Godbole

                                  14 Turnberry Walk

                                   Bedford

                                   MK 41, 8AZ

                                         U.K.

 

* sending money to Mr Godbole.

 

* making five copies of this newsletter and sending them to your friends.