INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH INTO TRUE HISTORY

 

NEWSLETTER NO. 39 OF 16 OCTOBER 2002

 

1. NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

 

1.1  An apology

We are sorry for not being able to produce the newsletter due on 16 June.

 

1.2 Rationalism of Veer Savarkar ( in English )

Progress so far

Prologue/ Preface and parts 1 to 7 have been through revision 1 stage

Parts 8 and 9 are being studied by Pandit Ramakrushnayya of London.

Part 10 remains to be translated. It is hoped that the first draft of the book would be ready by end of this year.

 

1.3 Lecture on Veer Savarkar

RSS workers in Birmingham have a get together, on first Tuesday of each month, called Vichar Manthan. Shree Godbole addressed their gathering on 5 March 2002 at Sparkshill Social and Cultural Centre and spoke on Savarkar – the unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle against the British Raj. It was attended by 30 persons. It was interesting to note that at the end of each session of Vichar Manthan, they play full text of Vande Mataram.

 

1.4 Visit to America

In June, Godbole went to America with his wife.

* Two get-togethers were arranged. One in Harrisburg by Dr Mukund Kulkarni and the other in Chicago by Shree Vasantrao Pandav. Godbole explained his research on the true nature of Tajmahal.

 

* In Chicago, Godbole visited the famous Art Institute of Chicago. This was the place where Swami Vivekanand gave his famous lecture in 1893. As we enter, on the left side is Fullerton Hall. There is a plaque outside. It reads

ON THIS SITE

BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 11 AND 27, 1893

SWAMI VIVEKANAND ( 1863 –1902 )

THE FIRST HINDU MONK FROM INDIA

TO TEACH VEDANTA IN AMERICA

ADDRESSED THE WORLD’S PARLIAMENT OF

RELIGIONS, HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH

THE WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION

HIS UNPRECENDENTED SUCCESS

OPENED THE WAY FOR THE

DIALOGUE BETWEEN EASTERN AND WESTERN RELIGIONS

 

* Temples

Recently, Hindus have built temples in Harrisburg and Chicago. Godbole was rather disappointed by their construction for two reasons.

(1) Lord Ganesh has the honour of being worshipped before any other gods. His statue must therefore be at the front of any temple. He is not just one of the gods.

(2) Rama and Krushna are both black and must not be depicted as white gods. Rama’s name is Savalaram – dark as a shadow, while Krushna is called Ghanashyam – dark as cloud.

 

* Lincoln Memorial

In Washington, Godbole visited the Lincoln Memorial. The reason for erecting this statue of Lincoln is described above the statue. ‘The monument was erected because Lincoln saved the Union.’ It had nothing to do with liberation of Negro slaves. Lincoln himself has said in his speeches that his first and foremost priority was to save the Union from disintegration, abolition of slavery was secondary.

And why do we erect Gandhi’s memorials and print his picture on every currency note in India ? Because he agreed to partition of India and sown seeds of further disintegration!! What a difference !

 

* Godbole was shocked to find out that our Gujrati brothers in America have no concern about the horrible Muslim riots in Gujrat province in February 2002!!

 

1.5 Death of Sudheer Phadake

Just six months after release of the film on Veer Savarkar, Sudheer Phadake the producer died in Mumbai on 29 July 2002. He was 83. An obituary by Godbole was published in July/August issue of the magazine Sangh Sandesh.

 

1.6 Dog meat

Westerners always laugh at Hindus for not eating beef. But when they realised that in South Asian countries like Korea, dogs are bread for meat, the same Westerners became horrified and expressed their indignation. On 15 January 2002 the Evening Standard reported on p16

Dr Dog meat muzzled as Korea promotion is cancelled.

“ Hounded by pet lovers, a South Korean firm has scraped a conference promoting the eating of dog meat, which was also intended to answer international critics ahead of the World Cup finals there in June.”

 

“ One hundred dog meat restaurant owners were due to take part in the event outside Seoul this week, with an appearance by a college professor nicknamed “Doctor Dog meat” who boasts 350 canine recipes and a development strategy for the Korean dog meat industry. But state-owned phone company KT Corp, which owns the conference venue, has been bombarded with complaints.” ( we wonder why )

 

Brigitte Bardot the former famous French actress has also been protesting about eating dog meat. We found the following letter in Metro, the London newspaper on 29 May 2002.

V Thornton of Berkshire wrote, “ Rosie Nichhitta asks why Brigitte Bardot specifically picked on South Korean dog-eating habits ( Metro 28 May). Is it not so much what they eat but what they do to these poor creatures before killing them that is the problem.”

“ Most of these dogs are tortured to death. They are bludgeoned or electrocuted, then blowtorched to burn off their hair and brown their skin, sometimes while still alive. These horrific methods are used to ‘tenderise flesh and improve the aphrodisiac quality of meat’ by the massive release of adrenaline into body tissues.”

“The more the creature suffers, the more flavourful and beneficial the meat is thought to be. Although some disgraceful behaviour happens in our slaughterhouses, thankfully this barbaric behaviour does not routinely happen to your Sunday roast beef.”

 

[ Our Comment - What the reader says is true. Now we are faced with a dilemma. South Koreans are Buddhists. Dr Ambedkar renounced Hindu Dharma and embraced publicly Buddhism in 1956. Veer Savarkar pointed out that the millions of Buddhists in South East Asia eat all kinds of meat including that of rodent and asked how this was compatible with Buddhism which is said to be a humane religion. Ambedkar and his followers have kept quiet about this question for nearly 50 years. WHY ?

Moreover, how is HALAL meat produced ? All the blood is drained from the animal, which must be fully conscious when being killed!! It suffers terribly. Why is the western media silent about this ? ]

 

1.7 Britain bans Israel label on goods from West Bank

On 10 July 2002, Valerie Elliott, Consumer Editor, wrote for the Times on the Anti-Israeli tactics of the West. She says :-

Supermarkets must no longer use “produce of Israel” labels on vegetables, fruit, flowers, wine and fruit juice grown and packed in the occupied territories of Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

The instruction from the Government has angered Israeli diplomats and some businessmen, who believe that the decision is connected to an aggressive campaign for a boycott of Israeli goods.

The Israeli Embassy’s official response is that it is still “studying” the likely impact of the change, though privately representatives say they are shocked by the move. It is the first time the Government has issued instructions that clearly differentiate between Israel and the occupied territories.

One senior Israeli Embassy source yesterday accused ministers of succumbing to “pressure from campaigners with an anti-Israeli political agenda.”

He added that the Government may have “unwittingly bowed to groups that have nothing to do with consumer interests but rather are seeking to score political points against Israel.”

The change came in a letter from Daniel Holliday, chief horticulture marketing inspector at the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs ( Defra) to the British Retail Consortium and Supermarket chains. The matter is to be taken up with Margaret Beckett, the Rural Affairs Secretary, by Lord Young of Graff ham, a former Trade and Industry Secretary, and now chairman of the British-Israeli Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Holliday wrote, “ Advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department of Trade and Industries is that produce from these occupied territories ought not to be labelled as ‘Produce of Israel’, because these territories are not recognised as part of Israel. It has been agreed that in this particular case and in order to give as much information as possible these products should be labelled with their region of production rather than a country of origin that may be misleading.”

A spokesman denied that the instruction was politically motivated, and said that the action had been taken after inquiries by retailers asked by shoppers about the origin of the produce. He said the instruction was agreed by the European Union and applied to all member states.

It means that produce from Israeli-owned co-operatives and farms in the occupied territories will not qualify for preferential rates of import duties at ports. Exporters will have to pick up the bill or pass on the cost to customers in Britain.

The Israeli Embassy is unaware of any other EU state adopting such a policy.

Lord Young said :” This has come like a bolt from the blue. We believe it is discriminatory and unfair. I cannot believe that Foreign Office and DTI are behind this. This is something that has come out of Defra, not from anyone high up, and does not represent the views of the Government.”

Betty Hunter, of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has been campaigning for a boycott of Israeli goods, said : “ We are extremely pleased. A lot of produce from illegal Israeli settlements is being mixed up with goods from Israel and they have been using the label to get advantageous tax concessions from the EU.”

 

Our Comments :- We need to learn the ways of today’s world. A small print in an obscure government department order can have a damaging effect on the party involved, in this case Israel.

 

 

2. AROUND LONDON TOUR OF PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS

 

2.1 Slide shows

Dr Agarkar of Kalyan, Maharashtra, conducted two slide shows of the tour

(i) On 26 February 2002. Pradnya Prabodhini, a school managed by Savarkar Pratishthan in Sangli, arranged the show. It was attended by 300 people and well appreciated.

(ii) On 28 February 2002, another show was organised by Marathi Vidnyan Parishad, Gad-Hingalz, District Kolhapur         

 

2.2 Tours

Godbole conducted two tours.

* First one was on 11 May. Five people attended. They included Shree Soni from Rajasthan, Shree Agashe from Gwalior, Shree Vaishampayan from Pen (Maharashtra) and Shree and Sau Chitre from Thane ( Maharashtra )

 

* The second tour took place on 28 September. Eleven people participated, including three computer Engineers from Hindusthan and their wives, Dr Vaidya of Grantham and his family.

 

Publicity

* Ekata, a Marathi magazine published in Canada, carried an article in its issue of April 2002 by Shree Vaghmare on the history of production of the film on Veer Savarkar. In it the author said that a friend of his had requested him to provide a list of places in London associated with Savarkar and other Indian freedom fighters. Mr Godbole therefore sent the details of his Special Tour to the editor who acknowledged receipt. It is hoped that he will inform the readers of this tour.

* Shree Arvind Bal of Pune had also requested the details of the tour

 

 

3 History today

3.1 Zinoviev letter was a fake, inquiry admits

In 1924, a few days before general elections in Britain, MI5 of Britain released the ‘Zinoviev letter’. As a result the Labour Party lost heavily. Now it is revealed that, that letter was a fake produced by the British Military Intelligence.

 

On 4 February 1999, Michael Smith wrote for The Daily Telegraph. He tells us

“ The investigation, prompted by documents released by the former KGB and published last year in The Daily Telegraph, concluded that the letter was widely leaked by MI5 and MI6 to discredit the Labour Government.”

 

“ The letter, leaked days before the 1924 election, was a call from the Soviet leadership to Britain’s communists asking them to “mobilise sympathetic contacts “ inside the Labour Party. It lost the election by a landslide.”

 

“ But the KGB file, released to The Daily Telegraph in Moscow, show that although the sentiments were genuine, the letter was a forgery. Dr Gill Bennett, the Foreign Office chief historian, was given access to all the secret British files on the letter, including an MI5 investigation of its provenance and to the KGB archives in Moscow. Although she accepted the evidence of the KGB files, published by the spy writer Nigel West and former KGB officer Oleg Tsarev, as The Crown Jewels, she declined to confirm that the forgery was commissioned by MI6.”

 

“ The idea of an institutionalised international campaign, directed by MI6, to discredit both the Bolsheviks and the Labour Government is not only unsubstantiated by the documents, but seems inherently unlikely”, she said. Nevertheless, she conceded that a number of officers from MI6 and MI5 were involved in leaking the forged letter and that both agencies actively circulated it among Government departments.”

 

“ It may have suited certain persons to leak the letter”, Dr Bennett said, “ It probably was leaked by members of MI6 to Conservative Party Office. The main person responsible for this is named Desmond Morton, then in charge of intelligence production within MI6, but later better known as intelligence adviser to Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the Second World War. But Dr Bennett also blames MI5 and in particular Joseph Ball, a senior officer who would later become Director of Information for Conservative Party Central Office. In circulating the letter, MI5 would have been well aware that it could only be a matter of time before it was leaked to the press.” She said.

“ Its incitement to insubordination and revolt in the Armed Forces was bound to have a powerful impact on men who were already impatient at the refusal of successive governments to denounce Soviet propaganda and subversive activities.”

 

“ The Zinoviev Letter was alleged to have been written to the British Communist Party by Gregori Zinoviev, the head of the Comintern, the organisation set up by Moscow to control communist activity abroad.”

 

“ The letter, which called on the British Communists to mobilise “sympathetic forces” in the Labour Party, was leaked to the Daily Mail shortly before the October 1924 general election. The newspaper spread details of the letter across its front page, headlined : “ Civil War Plot By Socialists’ Masters; Moscow Orders To Our Reds; Great Plot Discovered.”

 

“ In fact, it is not clear what effect the letter had on the election. Despite its defeat, the Labour vote rose by a million. It was the defection of Liberal votes to the Conservatives that handed them victory.”

 

“ But the letter has continued to cause controversy with persistent claims that it was a forgery aimed at preventing Ramsay MacDonald, the Labour Prime Minister from gaining a second term. The KGB files show that the letter was forged by a White Russian émigré in the Latvian capital Riga at the behest of MI6. The most likely reason appears to have been to protect a high-level MI6 source within the Soviet leadership who was reporting information remarkably similar to that reproduced in the Zinoviev Letter.”

 

But Dr Bennett concludes that it remains impossible to confirm the true origin of the Zinoviev Letter and that it remains as one newspaper said at the time,

“ A most extraordinary and mysterious business.”

 

Note :- This is the real life. When the British Military Intelligence conspired to topple its own government, how low would they and their masters sink to discredit Indian patriots like Savarkar? One can only imagine.

 

3.2 Aftermath of September 11, 2001

 

3.2.1 On September 11, 2001, Muslim suicide bombers hijacked United Airlines planes and crashed into World Trade Centre in New York. America took military action in Afghanistan and just 4 months later captured Al-Qaeda fighters. They were cleverly sent to a U.S militarily base on Guantanama Bay in southeast Cuba, not to any base in America (Apparently, due to an old treaty America has right to this base in Cuba). Even if the prisoners were to escape Cuba does not want them. How clever!

 

Carol Rosenberg reported for The Mail on Sunday on 13 January 2002 “ At least one prisoner had been sedated on the flight and most offered little resistance as they hobbled. … When two struggled, one of the military policemen at each arm deftly dropped them to their knees then quickly pulled them up to show who was in charge. Those considered the most dangerous had their legs shackled. Others had goggles over their eyes. Reports from Afghanistan said that before the flight to Cuba on Friday they had their heads and beards shaved – which would be against their religious beliefs. But there was not a clear enough view of the prisoners to see if this was true.”

 

“ The prisoners had endured a 27-hour, 8,000 mile flight from Kandahar, all the while shackled to their seats. Once in Camp X-Ray the prisoners were given two towels – one for a prayer mat, the other for showering – a flannel, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap and shampoo. They were isolated in individual cells with walls of chain-link fence and metal roofs. They slept on mats on the ground with halogen floodlights lighting their compound.”

 

“ Amnesty International said housing the detainees in the cages fell ‘below minimum standards for humane treatment’. But to avoid being tied to the strict rules regarding PoWs laid down by the Geneva Convention, America refuses to call them Prisoners of War and wants to try Al Qaeda and Taliban captives on its own terms.”

 

Our comment :- Compare this, with the foolhardy treatment Hindus always gave to their defeated enemies, be it in the days of Prithviraj Chauhan in 1192, or liberation of Goa in 1961 or Bangladesh war in 1971. We Hindus have decided to learn nothing from history.

 

3.2.2 America’s record of treating prisoners of war

Above news raised the question – how did Americans treat their PoWs in the past? The Mail on Sunday, a right wing paper, on the same page states

“ A history of tough treatment”

America has a long history of tough justice for prisoners captured during conflicts. The infamous early treatment of the native Indians was followed by appalling prison camps of the Civil War where 60,000 PoWs from both sides died.”

“ Historians and US soldiers have alleged that in spring 1945 General Eisenhower denied German PoWs Geneva Convention rights and thousands died after being kept on starvation rations in squalid open-air camps.”

[ This is indeed true. Graphic details are given in the book entitled - Crimes and Mercies : The fate of German civilians under allied occupation 1944-50 by James Bacque, Little Brown and Co, 1997]

 

“ In the Korean War, there were tales of American commanders ordering troops to fire on unarmed civilians trying to surrender, and stories of mistreatment in the Vietnam War are legion.”

[ There was a programme about this on BBC2 on 1 February 2002 at 9 p.m. The caption in the paper Metro of London reads - Timewatch

There is little doubt that US Forces committed atrocities during the Korean War (1950-53), although the Pentagon denies official responsibility for one of the worst incidents, at the No Gun Ri railway tunnels – the subject of tonight’s programme. In this sometimes harrowing episode of the history series, fresh evidence and eyewitness accounts including disturbing memories from a survivor of the massacre. Yang Hae-Sook (pictured), reveals that US military commanders ordered the frenzied and indiscriminate killing of innocent women and children in the tunnels, contradicting an official Pentagon report published last year.

Soldiers in the 7th Cavalry – a regiment made famous under General Custer – claim that senior officers told them: ‘Kill’em all.’ A grim episode in American history – and one it won’t want to be reminded of.]

 

“ Now there are signs Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners are being mistreated, and that America looks the other way as hundreds are executed by tribal leaders.”

 

3.3.3 Anniversary of 9/11

The first anniversary of September 2001 was observed with sombre mood all over the world. But Osama Bin Laden was declared a hero in the Finsbury Park mosque in London. That was no surprise. It is interesting to note how this news was reported. In the tabloid newspaper the Sun we found a little mention but that too on page 5, in broadsheet newspapers like the Times there was some mention on pages 12 or 13. The British still are so pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu today.

 

3.3 Queen dethrones its Queen

On 15 January 2002, Philip Delves Broughton reported from New York for the Daily Telegraph, p13.

A painting of King Charles II’s wife is to be removed from the civic hall of Queens, the New York borough named after her because of her links to slavery.

The decision to remove the painting of Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese, follows years of pressure from historians and politicians who say any reference to her is an insult to city’s African-Americans.

Though Catherine of Braganza’s family profited from the slave trade, her links to it seem tenuous. In her will, she even set aside money for the “redemption of slaves”.

But Helen Marshall, the first black woman to become Queen’s borough president, has ordered the portrait’s removal to reflect her borough’s “diversity”

Though she never visited Americas, Queen Catherine was on the throne when English soldiers seized what was then New Amsterdam in 1674 ( Might is right yet again! ). The city was renamed New York, and the wooded area across the East River from Manhattan was declared the property of the

( British) Queen. Stanley Cogan, borough historian and president of the Queens Historical Society, said : “ There has been a lot of conflict about the appropriateness of her portrait hanging in the Civic Hall. A lot of people began to object to it, and believed that it was not right for the borough to be named after her. I am with those who say the portrait should be removed if the evidence shows her links with slavery, though I think renaming the borough would be a bit much.”

Note :- In Hindusthan we still have remnants of the British Raj like King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, Curzon Road Barracks, Queen’s Barracks, Queen’s Garden and many others.

3.4 Muslim Riots in Gujarat : With friends like these who need enemies ?

The ghastly events of February 2002 in Godhra were no surprise. Hatred of Hindus in inborn among Muslims. What is surprising is the sheer stupidity of Hindus.

Pandurangshastri Athawale is a well-known social worker in Gujarat. In his biography ( Deha Zala Chandanacha ) he proudly says, “ Many Christians and Muslims approached me and asked me to convert them to Hindu Dharma. I flatly refused. ….. I will not change anyone’s religion. Everyone should follow his/her own religion and join our Swadhyaya movement. ….. Prophet Mohammed had done enormous work. I consider him as reincarnation of God.” ( pp 484 and 504 ). The biography was first published in 1999, 6th edition in year 2000.

We wonder what the learned Brahmin says now. With passage of time, hatred of Hindus by Muslims has not diminished and Muslims are just as barbaric today as they were 1,000 years ago. We witnessed this in the treatment of Indian soldiers by Pakistanis during the war in Kargil ( Kashmir ) in 1999, of Border Security Force jawans by Bangladeshi villagers ( April 2001) and of Hindu women and children by Muslim mobs in Godhra in Gujrat in Feb 2002. Every time Muslims have declared that YES it is their religion to attack Hindus so barbarously. And yet, when he had a chance, Athawale refused to convert a single Muslim to Hinduism!! He is asking them to keep to their religion and seek salvation!! May be, he would prefer to be burnt alive in Gujarat.

 

With friends like him who needs enemies ?

 

 

4 Why we cannot tell the truth.

4.1 ‘Professor driven out for exposing hospital scandal’

Beezy Marsh reported for the Daily Mail on 18 July 2001

 

The NHS anaesthetist who blew the whistle on the Bristol heart babies scandal told yesterday how he was forced abroad by ‘threats and discrimination’ from the medical establishment.

 

Professor Stephen Bolsin, who emigrated with his family to Australia, said he was blacklisted after lifting the lid on the worst scandal ever to hit the NHS.

 

He said, ‘I felt like a Russian dissident accused of psychiatric illness for not thinking the right thoughts. No professional in the NHS should have to endure what I did. Bristol will live with me and my family for the rest of our lives.’

Professor Bolsin’s ordeal emerged on the eve of a damning 12 million public enquiry report, which is expected to spell closure for half Britain’s child heart units. But parents whose babies dies at Bristol Royal Infirmary face renewed agony, with the report expected to conclude that up to 150 lives may have been lost needlessly.

 

Heart surgeon James Wisheart, 62, who failed to perfect complex surgery techniques, has already been struck off, among with former hospital chief executive John Roylance, 69.

 

Surgeon Janardan Dhasmana, 60 has been banned from operating on children for four years, but is understood to have recently been observing operations at St George’s Hospital in South London.

 

Professor, Bolsin, now head of anaesthesia at Geelong Hospital near Melbourne, was the first to alert the Department of Health to frightening high death rates at Bristol in 1995.

 

His audit of operations by Wisheart and Dhasmana eventually formed a key part of the General Medical Council hearing at which they and Roylance were found guilty of serious professional misconduct over the deaths of 29 babies and children.

 

But the anaesthetist’s concerns were originally ignored by Bristol surgeons and bosses – and he says he was warned that he would not work again unless he stayed quiet.

 

Professor Bolsin, 48, said he was branded the ‘most hated anaesthetist in Europe’ and moved to Australia as a direct result of the treatment he suffered.

 

He left a year after Dhasmana was allowed to go ahead with an operation on 18-month-old Joshua Loveday who died during surgery. Professor Bolsin had tried to stop the operation because he was so concerned about Dhasmanas’ ability.

 

He and his wife Maggie, a nurse at the hospital, even discussed advising Joshua’s parents to take him home and seek a second opinion. It was the baby’s death that finally persuaded hospital authorities to investigate the cardiac unit.

 

After Professor Bolsin was ‘driven out’ of Bristol he was turned down for three jobs around the country. He said yesterday, ‘ I would like to extend my deepest sympathy and apologies to the families of children who died or were permanently harmed. No actions can adequately compensate for their suffering but I hope publication of the report will help to heal their wounds.’

 

The report is the result of a two-and-a-half year public enquiry, chaired by medical ethics expert Professor Ian Kennedy, which looked at 2000 operations. It is expected to call for radical reforms, which could close six of the 13 NHS paediatric heart centres amid fears that smaller units do not have enough operations to maintain skill levels.

 

Other recommendations include closer monitoring of operation results – which could force surgeons to reveal their death rates – and an end to the ‘macho medical culture’, which saw doctors keeping parents in the dark about operation risks.

 

Note :- So much for the freedom of expression in Britain today. Professor Bolsin was hounded out of his job for speaking the truth.

 

4.2 Exam board sacks GCSE whistle blower

On 24 October 2001 the Evening Standard reported, “ The man who blew the whistle on the “fixing” of record GCSE results has been sacked by the exam board which employed him in what he has described as a “conspiracy of silence” to hide the truth about education standards, writes Tim Miles.”

 

“ Jeffrey Robinson, a senior maths examiner with the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA exam board before he retired this year, exposed in the Evening Standard how over 16 years he swathe marks required to achieve each exam grade steadily fall. Exam boards, driven by competition, deliberately manipulated pass rates to offer schools the best chance of league table success, he claimed. Now his employers have accused him of “breaching confidentially” and he has been sacked from his job as an examiner with the board’s international arm, Cambridge International Examinations.”

“ Today, Mr Robinson, 67, accused the board of acting out of “spite” because he had exposed the truth. Several fellow maths examiners publicly disputed his claims but last week he dismissed an inquiry into his allegations as a “whitewash” after Education Minister Stephen Timms said the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority found no evidence that grade boundaries had been lowered.”

“ Now he is seeking support to win his job back. The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate says he broke contractual obligations not to disclose confidential information or to speak to the press.”

“ David Hart of the National Association of Head Teachers, said he did not agree with Mr Robinson’s claims about exam standards, but defended his right to speak out.”

 

Our comment :- So, even today, in England, in the field of education, people are afraid to tell the truth. So much for the freedom of speech. No wonder

Indian historians are scared to speak the truth about Taj Mahal.

 

4.3 Do we want to know the truth ?

We often hear of the 6 million Jews killed by Germany during the Second World War, but it is not known that the countries that suffered under German occupation during that war would have done the same thing. After the defeat of Germany those ‘oppressed people’ had been saying that they will finish Hitler’s job. That was the main reason for the panic flight of European Jews to Israel. It is easily forgotten that civilian population of occupied Europe did kill Jews in cold blood. Here is an example.

The Times of 10 July 2002 reported on page 16 – Polish massacre

Blalystock : An investigation into a massacre in Jedwabne, Poland, in 1941, found that a local mob was to blame although they had been incited by German forces, Radoslaw Ignatiev, a war crimes prosecutor, said that 40 men forced Jews into a barn and set it alight. (Reuters)

 

 

5 Historical research

5.1 Cremation, Christianity and Britain

An interesting article by Michael Hanlon appeared in the Daily Mail on 13 February 2002 (p 37). He says :- Once fashionable with Pagans and Vikings, cremation was outlawed until a century ago when Mrs Pickersgill of Woking mad it respectable. Today, it is Britain’s favourite way to go.

 

Princess Margaret’s instruction that she must be cremated rather than buried has been hailed as a controversial break from Royal tradition. She will be the first senior member of the Royal Family not to be buried or interred since the death of Princess Louise, Queen Victoria’s daughter in 1939.

 

Yet Margaret’s decision is in line with a growing trend away from burials in favour of what is seen as a quick, cheap and clean alternative by most of the British public. It seems incredible now – when more than 70% of people choose cremation over burial – that as recently as the late 19th century, cremation was viewed with horror and distaste. Its introduction – or more correctly, reintroduction – into modern Britain came about only as a result of one of the most bizarre legal cases in our history.

 

Since Viking times, cremation had been almost unknown in Europe, condemned as a pagan barbarism by the Christian churches. But in 1883, the eccentric Doctor William Price, an 83-year-old Welsh Druid high priest, cremated his five-month-old son – who had been christened Jesus Christ – in accordance with what he believed was Druid practice. The police viewed cremation as an illegal activity and Price was arrested and hauled before the South Glamorgan Assizes in Cardiff. But Mr Justice Stephen ruled that cremation was legal provided ‘no nuisance’ was caused to others and the case went in favour of Dr Price. His victory paved the way for the reintroduction of a practice that stretches back into pre-history. In espousing cremation, modern Britons are emulating their forefathers, the people who built Stonehenge and worshipped long-forgotten gods and goddesses.

 

No one knows when cremation first became used as a way of disposing of bodies. Ancient humans and Neanderthals buried their dead but the burning of remains became widespread across Europe and the Near East during the Stone Age. Elaborate cremation urns dating from 3000 BC have been found in western Russia.

 

It was the Romans who adopted cremation with enthusiasm but, by the time Rome became Christianised in the fourth century, burial had almost completely replaced burning except for rare instances of plague or war.

 

For the next 1,500 years, cremation remained rare in the West. Other cultures continued with it, particularly the Hindus. Cremation was also used by the pagan Vikings who burned the bodies of their noblemen on special ceremonial boats, built to carry the remains of kings to Valhalla, the home of the Norse gods.

 

It wasn’t until the 18th century that a growing number of Britons were beginning to wonder if the practice of burying people underground might be less than ideal. When it was established that diseases could be caused by microbes, doctors and scientists pointed out that burying thousands of rotting corpses a few feet underground in the middle of Europe’s burgeoning cities might constitute a public health hazard.

 

Cremation remained a matter of speculation, discussion and experiment among a few intellectuals and scientists until at the Vienna Exposition in 1873, a Professor Brunetti of Italy demonstrated a cremation chamber, called a retort, which did the job with the minimum of fuss. He showed that, by heating human remains to a temperature of some 870 degrees C, the processes of dehydration and thermal decomposition reduce the body to small particles, which are ground to ash.

 

One of the visitors to the Vienna Exposition was Sir Henry Thompson, Queen Victoria’s physician. He was impressed with Brunetti’s cremation chamber and returned to Britain a convert to the cause of cremation. His main reason for supporting cremation was that ‘it was becoming a necessary sanitary precaution against the propagation of diseases among a population daily growing larger in relation to the area it occupied.’

 

The legal status of cremation remained unclear, so in 1874 Sir Henry formed the Cremation Society of England, which counted among its founder members not only medics and scientists but the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millis and the writer Anthony Trollop.

 

The first attempt to build a crematorium in England – on land given to the society in a cemetery in North London – failed because the Bishop of Rochester, within whose jurisdiction the cemetery lay, prohibited the establishment of a crematorium on public land.

 

The Society then gained a site at Woking in Surrey. A team of Italian engineers was invited to supervise the construction of Europe’s first crematorium and, on March 17, 1879, a horse was cremated there in less than two hours. But local opinion was against the cremators. The Vicar of Woking led a deputation to the Home Secretary, Sir Richard Cross, who was persuaded cremation could prevent the detection of death following violence or poison. He refused to countenance the practice until an Act of Parliament was passed.

 

It was the Druid high priest’s victory in Cardiff in 1883 that saw the turning point. Once Dr Price escaped censure after burning the body of his young son, The Cremation Society saw no bar to proceeding and it prepared to carry out the first ‘official’ cremation in Britain since Viking Times.

 

In 1885, a Mrs Pickersgill became the first person to be cremated at Woking. From then on, crematoriums had sprung up all over Britain, the US. ( the first American crematorium had opened in 1876) and Europe, and in 1963 the Pope sanctioned the practice for the Roman Catholics.

 

In the year 2000, 437,600 cremations took place in Britain. The practice is still opposed by some – notably the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, Moslems and Orthodox ( but not liberal ) Jews – but its popularity among the secular, Catholics and Protestant communities continues to grow.

 

In deciding to be cremated, Princess Margaret has set a Royal seal of approval on this ancient ‘pagan’ practice.

 

Our Note :- After all these years world has finally accepted the Hindu practice of cremation as the only healthy way of disposing of dead bodies.

 

5.2 Eunuchs and Christianity

We found an interesting article on Eunuchs in the Daily Mail of 23 May 2002. Anne de Courcy wrote :- A cut above the rest – The history of eunuchs is painful – but often glorious.

“ … In 17th and 18th –century Italy, castration was big business, with tacit approval of the Roman Catholic Church. Every year, some 4,000 –5,000 boys were castrated so they could sing in church choirs. Women were forbidden to sing in such choirs, because of St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians; ‘Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak.’ [ New Testament. The first epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, Chapter XIV, 34]. …… The practise of castration survived until middle 19th century. The voice of the last, Alessandro Moreschi ( 1858 -1922), can be heard on a recording made in 1902.”

 

5.2 Ancients cities are discovered : Time to rethink our past

Our Puranas mention that the human life on earth was destroyed and started again several times. For example in the Bhagvat, sage Shukadev tells Vidur,

‘ My son, this earth was inundated several times before and life started, again and again.’

But, we have been regarding this as superstitious nonsense. Recent discoveries have proved that our Puranas had indeed been telling the truth.

 

On 11 April 2002, Metro newspaper of London carried an article on page 9.

“Lost city is found on seabed.”

Divers have found submerged ruins thought to be the remains of a mythical city swallowed up by the sea 2,000 years ago.

They made the discovery in 75ft of water about a mile off the coast of India in the Bay of Bengal. The structure is shaped like a huge horseshoe, with a perimeter of 250ft. Its walls stand up to 6ft above the seabed. ‘The ruins include walls, steps and stone blocks. The structures have been severely damaged over the years but are clearly man-made.’ Said a spokesman for the British-based Scientific Exploration Society. Local legend tells of a great city containing seven temples, which was so beautiful, jealous gods sent a flood to engulf it. Author Graham Hancock, an expert on early civilisations, insisted yesterday it was this lost city’s remains, which have been found. He told a London press conference the 25-strong team of divers, from India’s National Institute of Oceanography and Scientific Exploration Society, found seven temples at the site. Mr Hancock believes the discovery supports his theory that complex civilisations existed in the Ice Age but were wiped out when the ice melted. The remains have been dated at between 1,500 and 2,000 years old.

The paper then gives a list of recent underwater discoveries

1. December 2001 : Remains of 6,000-tear-old, eight square mile city discovered in the Guanahacabibes Peninsula off the coast of Cuba. Huge granite pyramids found 2,200 ft below sea level.

2. May 2001 : Remains of ancient city 120ft below sea level and almost 9,500 years old discovered in the Gulf of Cambay, India. Found were masonry, pottery, beads, sculpture, human bones and teeth.

3. August 2001 : 1,000 to 1,500 –year-old remains of huge temple discovered beneath Lake Titicaca in the Andes. Found were : 600ft long temple, a terrace for crops, a pre-Incan road and 1n 2,300 ft wall, ceramic artefacts.

 4. June 1999 : 2,500-year-old ruins of ancient Greek city Heralkleion discovered off the coast of Egypt. Found 30 ft below sea level and believed to have been sunk by an earthquake, were houses, temples, a port and statues.

 

[Our Note - Is it not time to rethink about our ancient history ? More about such discoveries in our next newsletter.]

 

5.3 Hindoostan not India

* While attending the Sangh Shibir in Hounslow in August 2002 and visiting an exhibition arranged by the organisers, Godbole came across a map of our motherland clearly marked Hindoostan. It was published in London on 6 January 1808. More enquiries revealed that our friend Shree Vinoobhai Wadher purchased the map in an antique shop in London. He has supplied a copy to Godbole. The publishers of map are C SMITH, map-seller of No. 172 Strand, London.

* For sometime Godbole worked in an office near Covent Garden in London. He used to browse around antique shops during lunchtime. He remembers having seen the words Hindoostan on an earth-globe in a shop.

* In Windsor castle one comes across flags of some British regiments. They show the various battles in which the regiment took part. Godbole remembers Hindoostan clearly printed in one such flag.

 

What a pity we are so obsessed with the word ‘India’ even when speaking in our mother tongue, be it Marathi, Gujrati or any other.

 

5.4 Fighting is ‘allowed’ during the holy month of fasting ( Ramadan).

Recent crisis in Iraq and Afghanistan had raised the question – What would Americans do on onset of the month of Ramadan when Muslims are supposed to fast during day ?

 

We came across an interesting article in the Times of 18 December 1998 when American President Bill Clinton was carrying out air-strikes against the forces of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Nichael Binyon, diplomatic editor wrote,

“ The approach of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, has been a key factor in determining the timing and duration of the British and American air-strikes on Iraq. President Clinton told the American people in his television address that he had decided to act immediately because to take action during Ramadan would be “profoundly offensive to the Arab World.”

His words suggested strongly that the operation would end before Ramadan, expected to begin on Sunday morning after the sighting of the new moon tomorrow.

Mr Clinton may have been responding to reports that there would be an outburst of anger across the Muslim world against allies if the attack continued into Ramadan. It is certainly a convenient pretext to convince the Republican opponents that the timing had nothing to do with the impeachment hearings. But, in fact, the onset of Ramadan makes little difference.

 

According to Koranic traditions - building on pre-Islamic customs – warfare is strongly discouraged in the four lunar months after Ramadan. But no mention is made of an injunction against fighting in Koranic chapter ( Sura al Baqara) specifying observance of Ramadan.

“ It is a month of heightened devotion, when Muslims fast during the day and should pray at night.” A spokesman for the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies said.

“ Any news of violence or killing is therefore, very disturbing indeed, as it upsets the spiritual atmosphere.” But he said that it was not more offensive to start a war during the holy month than it was to continue fighting one.

 

Diplomats note that neither Iran nor Iraq stopped fighting during Ramadan during their long war in the 1980s. And the joint Egypt-Syrian attack on Israel in 1973 was launched during Ramadan.

 

Well, the Americans did not stop their military action in Afghanistan during the Ramadan in 2001.

 

Our Note :- Are we going to learn from history ? Apparently not. When did Shivaji carry out his daring attack on Shaistakhan, the General sent by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ? During the days of Ramadan in 1663!! He always attacked when his enemies least expected an attack. For centuries before him, Hindus had guaranteed that they would never attack Muslims during the days of Ramadan. But Shivaji did and that’s why he succeeded. On the other hand, George Fernandes, the Indian Defence minister stopped India’a military action against Muslim invaders in Kashmir during the days of Ramadan in 2000. And what was the result ? Disaster.

 

 

8. BEHAVIOUR OF CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS TODAY

8.1 THE CHRISTIANS

8.1.1 Pope’s divorce decree

On 29 January 2002 The Daily Mail reported on p37

The Pope yesterday urged Roman Catholic lawyers and magistrates not to work on divorce cases.

Speaking during his annual meeting with members of the Italian legal profession, the pontiff said the number of marriages ending in the law courts was ‘spreading like the plague.’

Although his comments were directed specifically at Italians, Vatican observers said it was clear the message he delivered was aimed at the one billion Catholics worldwide.

The church is vehemently opposed to divorce, which it says threatens the ‘natural institution’ of the family.

‘ Divorce …. has devastating consequences that spread in society like the plague.’ Said 81-year old John Paul. As a result, judges and lawyers should refuse to use their professional skills with the goal of ending marriages, he warned.

‘Marriage is indissoluble’ he said. ‘It doesn’t make any sense to talk about the ‘imposition’ of human law, because it should reflect and protect natural and divine law.

‘ Lawyers, who work freely, should always decline to use their professions for an end that is contrary to justice, like divorce,’ he said.

The Pope’s words were criticised by Italian lawyers an interventionist. ‘The laws of the state do not interfere in the laws of the church, so it would be right if the church did not interfere in the realm of judges and lawyers,’ said divorce lawyer Cesare Rimini.

Note – This just shows how Pope tries to interfere in affairs of the state!! It is worth remembering that in 2002 leaders of all three political parties in Britain are Catholics.

 

8.1.2 China’s Christians ‘tortured’

The Times published a report by Daniel McGrory on 11 February. He says

 

A senior official in China’s National Security Ministry has smuggled documents to the West that disclose orders to police chiefs to torture women members of Christian churches as part of crackdown on religious groups.

Jubilee Campaign, a British human rights group, has evidence of women being abused with electric cattle prods, sexually assaulted and beaten into falsely confessing that they had been raped by pastors. Death sentences have been passed on several leading Christians in recent months, including a 30-year-old woman from the South China Church who was tried in secret.

The official who leaked the documents is in hiding and the dossier has been passed to the White House. President Bush visits China this month and has asked to be briefed about the treatment of Christians. Human rights groups hope that the evidence will persuade him to take tougher action against Beijing.

The testimony, smuggled out of prison at the end of last year, will embarrass Chinese officials, who claim that they have stopped such tactics after being included in the World Trade Organisation and secured the 2008 Olympic Games.

 

One prisoner, Yang Tongi, signed her testimony with a bloody fingerprint. She said that she was forced to kneel for hours before her interrogation began. She was handcuffed behind her back and, as they beat her, her captors boasted : “We can kill you without causing any problems.”

 

Zhang Hongium, 20, said that guards at the Zhong Xiang detention centre shackled her hand and foot and tortured her with electric prod. Others were forced to endure medical examinations as police sought proof that they had sex with their pastor. Tongin Li said that in the same jail she was threatened with sexual assault and a guard jeered : “ This is not considered as raping, but just coping with people like you.”

The Jubilee Campaign has shown The Times some of the leaked documents from the Ministry of Public security.

 

Our comments :- (1) We never heard any more about this afterwards. China is too important market for America to make a fuss about such matters.

(2) The Times published the news on page 16. Had it been a news from India they would have published it on the front page.

 

8.1.3 Cruelty to animals in Spain

On 29 April the Metro newspaper of London published a horrific picture of dogs being hung from trees and left to die, on page 7. It reported

 

“Scandal of dogs hung up to die”

Tens of thousands of greyhounds are being hanged from trees, stoned, thrown into wells and set on fire, an animal charity has revealed.

The cruel ritual, in which the animals are strung up by their necks and tied to trees, takes place in Spain at the end of the hare-coursing season. It is thought that half the hunting dogs die by the age of two. Empty cigarette packets and bottles of wine lie at the foot of the trees – suggesting the dogs’ deaths were treated as spectacular sport. Jonathan Owen from the World Society for the Protection of Animals said : ‘We estimate that many thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of dogs are killed in this way.’

Mr Owen said the dogs were usually owned by the poor and were of no value to their owners or worth keeping as pets. He added : ‘It is scandalous that Spain, a country holding the European Union presidency, is allowing man’s best friend to be so cruelly and callously abused in this manner.’

 

The next day (30 April 2002) the paper published a letter from Pantelis Kokkalis of Middlesex. He said “ I was shocked but not surprised by the cruelty the Spaniards show to animals. A nation that televises bull-fighting and throws goats from bell towers for the sake of some local custom deserves to have its holiday industry boycotted.

 

 

8.2 THE MUSLIMS

8.2.1 Shias and Sunnis

Bomb blast at Punjab mosque leaves 12 dead.

 

On 27 April 2002 Zahid Hussain reported from Islamabad for The Times

An outlawed Islamic militant group is believed to be responsible for the bombing of a Shia Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, which killed 12 women and children.

 

The bomb exploded around midnight yesterday in the women’s section of a large, segregated gathering of worshippers in grounds belonging to a Shia mosque and cemetery in the town, Bhakkar. Nine women and three children were killed immediately and 13 others suffered serious injuries. Thousands had assembled in the grounds to commemorate the death of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was killed at Karbala in Iraq in A.D 680 during a battle with a rival.

 

“We can’t say whether it was a hand grenade or a planted bomb” Sohail Naqvi, a local Shia leader, said. Police had made no arrests.

 

Until late in the night, mosques throughout the town were making announcements trying to trace children lost in the chaos that followed the blast.

 

Ali Raza Gardezi, a senior Shia leader, condemned the attack on women and children as an act of terrorism aimed at creating unrest and sectarian disharmony. ‘We hope and expect that those responsible for the bomb explosion will be given exemplary punishment’ he said.

 

No one has accepted responsibility, but police suspected that Sipah-I-Sahaba, an outlawed Sunni extremist group, was involved. The pro-Taliban group has rounded on the minority Shias, declaring them “non-Muslims”

 

President Mushsrraf banned the group in January after a rise in sectarian violence. He has vowed to eliminate extremism and the military Government has arrested hundreds of activists, but it has not stopped violence.

 

Since January dozens of Shia Muslims have died in targeted killings in Punjab Province and Karachi. Fourteen people were killed in an attack on a mosque in Rawalpindi last month.

 

More than a dozen Shia doctors have been killed in Karachi this year in an increase in religious killings since the fall of the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.

 

Police said that most of the Islamic militants supporting the Taleban had returned to Pakistan and were responsible for that attacks on Shias.

 

Our comment :- When Muslims do not hesitate to kill Muslim women and children in cold blood, what would they do to Hindu women?

 

8.2.2 Muslims in Britain

On 18 October 2001 Nick Britten reported for The Daily Telegraph (p16 )

“ Hindu girl tells of school hall hammer attack.”

 

A teenage Hindu girl who suffered a fractured skull when a gang of Muslim youths rampaged through her school with hammers and axes and told of her ordeal yesterday.

Radhika Shulka, 15, was walking to the dinner hall at Derby Moor Community School when up to 10 youths burst in, smashing more than 40 windows and assaulting staff and pupils.

Radhika was chased, pushed to the floor and hit on the head with a hammer. She said:” I was crying and trying to roll up in a ball as he was hitting me. I just closed my eyes and hoped he would stop.”

She suffered a fractured skull, internal bleeding in her ear, a black eye and bruising on her back and shoulders.

 

Radhika said inter-racial tension had increased dramatically since the terrorist attacks on America and bombing of Afghanistan. Muslim youths had sprayed graffiti supporting Osama bin Laden on a school building, and even Muslim children from Derby Moor had joined in the attack. Two members of staff and four other pupils were injured.

 

Radhika, from Sunny Hill, Derby, said : “ There was a lot of shouting and I turned to see a group of boys I did not recognise. A teacher told me to run and as I did I was attacked with a hammer. I was conscious but I closed my eyes. I remember a teacher coming to help but he was pushed away. I was trying to roll over and do as much as I could to get out of his way but I couldn’t. All I could hear was the smashing of windows.”

 

The attack followed an argument between three girls last week over race and the events of September 11. One girl, a Muslim, had her clothes torn. Radhika said : “ She went away to get her family and one of the attackers was her cousin.”

Most of the group were identified from the school’s closed-circuit television as pupils at nearby Bemrose Community School. Richard Feist, the head teacher, said he had expelled three pupils and three others were “excluded long-term.”

 

David Roles, Derby Moor’s head teacher, warned his pupils against carrying out revenge attacks. Police protection was stepped up at two nearby multi-ethnic schools and officers will remain at the gates until school breaks up tomorrow.

Radhika says she is too scared to return to school. Her mother is trying to find her another place to complete her GCSEs, which she takes next year.

 

Police said a boy of 15 had been charged with two assaults on teachers and released on bail, as had a 17-year-old over the attack on Radhika. Two other youths were arrested yesterday and police expect more to follow.

 

Our comment :- It is astonishing that Daily Telegraph, a normally anti-Hindu paper should publish this news with photo of Radhika while all the Hindus of Britain stay silent and say, ‘ all religions are the same’

 

8.2.3 (So called) Islamic Brotherhood of man

On 3 April 2002 the Sun reported on page 17

Abdul Sattar, 35, was stabbed with a broken bottle by two 16 year-olds he chased from his off-licence in Norbury, South London, for stealing 6 pound alcopops.

The thieves fled as dad-of-three Abdul lay in the street. Hospital doctors were unable to save his right eye. Abdul raged yesterday, “ I am very angry. The police don’t seem to do anything for shopkeepers. They asked why I gave them chase, but I’ve had 100 incidents of shoplifting and six armed robberies in four years. Even if someone is arrested, they’re out hours later. These two cut my eye out for a 6-pound drink. I put all my savings into the shop – now I’ve had enough.”

 

Our comment :- We need to learn how to use such examples. What happened to the Islamic brotherhood of man ? Indian Muslims have been telling us time and again that ALL Muslims are one. You hurt one Muslim and the entire Muslim world would be against you. So, what was the reaction to above incident in say Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia or Iran ? No one gave a damn!! That is the reality of life. Indian Muslims are despised throughout the Arab world.

 

 

9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

We are grateful to the following for their help :-

 

* For making copies of our newsletters and distributing them to friends

Dina Nath Behl of London, Dr Godbole of Rochdale.

 

* For studying and making suggestions of improvement in our writing

Pandit Ramkrishnayya of London.

 

* For continuing with slide shows of Godbole's special tour of London.

Dr Agarkar, of Kalyan, Maharashtra.

 

** Please help by :-

 

* acknowledging the receipt of this newsletter to the following address :-

 

Mr V S Godbole

14 Turnberry Walk

Bedford

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,

  magazines and periodicals.

* arranging slide shows by Godbole at various social functions

* purchasing books from Mr Godbole.

 

VANDE MATARAM