INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH INTO TRUE HISTORY

NEWSLETTER NO. 40 OF 16 OCTOBER 2003

1. NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.1 An Apology

We are sorry for not being able to produce the newsletters due on 16 February and 16 June 2003 and this one is smaller than usual.

1.2 Rationalism of Veer Savarkar (in English)

Shree and Sau Godbole visited Hindusthan in February 2003.

* While in Thane Shree Godbole gave a lecture on the English version of his book on 2 February 2003.

* Shree Godbole has now sent the manuscript by CD to the printers – Vedavidya Mudranalaya of Pune. Our friend Dr Agarkar of Kalyan has kindly agreed to go to Pune, sit with the Computer Operator of the Printer and ensure that the contents are properly arranged and presented.

1.3 Savarkar : Some unknown facts

After the unveiling of portrait of Veer Savarkar in the Indian Parliament there was a lot of mudslinging against him in March 2003 in English newspapers in India and abroad. Shree Godbole’s reply to such false accusations was published in ‘BJP Today’ of April 1-15, 2003. However we need a document to which people can refer at all times. Godbole has therefore created a file entitled ' Savarkar - unknown facts.' for easy reference. He will gladly send you a copy if you need it.

The main accusation against Savarkar is this – He apologised for his deeds to seek release from jail in Andaman Islands. It is astonishing that even Savarkarites are accepting this without questioning. They do not ask the accusers for proof; they come to me for an explanation!! [As a typical example see June 2003 Savarkar special issue of the RSS weekly Vivek from Mumbai. Article entitled Gandhi and Savarkar by Arun Sarathi. He says on page 39 - It is true that Savarkar asked for clemency. Sarathi gives no proof, no date, did not quote Savarkar's words. What a shame!]. Here are the facts -Savarkar was sentenced to Transportation for Life, TWICE and sent to Andaman Islands to serve that sentence. IT DID NOT MEAN 50 years in jail. After serving a few years (usually 3 to 4) the inmates were allowed to go to work outside the jail and eventually settle on the islands. Savarkar was denied this even after serving 11 years. That was utter barbarity. At the time of the First World War Savarkar did write to Mr Montague, the then Secretary of State for India. He said that –

(a) Britain should set up colonial self Government for India

(b) In return, Indian revolutionaries would cease all hostilities and help Britain in war effort.

The Governor General of India eventually replied, " In the present circumstances it is impossible to give effect to your suggestion.

” NO PLEA FOR CLEMENCY HERE.” Due to outcry about prison conditions on the Andaman Islands the British Authorities decided to close the jail on the islands. Many concessions were being made to prisoners who wanted to settle on the islands. But these were denied to Savarkar. He did want to settle on the islands. He was forcibly sent back to mainland India and kept in various prisons for further 3 years before being sent to stay in internment in Ratnagiri for further 13 ½ years.

1.4 Lecture on Veer Savarkar

Our friend Shree Vinoo Wadher of Wembley had organised an exhibition on life of Savarkar at Wembley Town Hall on 25 May. Shree Godbole was the main speaker. He expounded on his work “ Savarkar – unknown facts”. Many people in the audience congratulated Godbole and asked for a copy of the contents, which was sent to them.

1.5 Entire works of Savarkar (in Hindi)

The Hindi version of Savarkar Samagra Vangmay, published. by Prabhat Prakashan, Delhi, was released on 3rd May by Shri Vajpayee the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Advani and Sri K.S.Sudarshan (Chief of RSS) at PM House. Earlier 5 volumes were published, and now remaining 5 vol. were released

The publisher’s address is -

Prabhat Prakashan

4/19 Asaf Ali Road

New Delhi 110,002

Hindusthan (India)

1.6 Film on Veer Savarkar

We informed the readers that a film on Savarkar was finally released on 30 November 2001. On making enquiries with his friends in Mumbai, Shree Godbole was reliably informed that a video would be released on 28 May 2003. Godbole saw the film in New York in July 2003. At that time he learned that the Production Team had given exclusive rights for show of film to Shree Mohan Ranade of America for one year. Any video will therefore be not produced till July 2004.

1.7 Taj Mahal : Facts and fantasies

In February, Godbole made three slide shows in Pune on Taj Mahal: Facts and Fantasies. Our friend Shree Ashok Athavale, formerly of I.I.T Kanpur, kindly provided his projector for the shows.

1 st at Patwardhan Bagh

About 30 people attended.

2 nd at Shreeram Kale’s place in Vitthalvadi.

Nine Computer Engineers attended

3 rd at Shreyas Hotel (15 February 2003)

Ten Senior citizens attended.

1.8 Shivaji

There is a group of Marashtrians in Newcastle. Dr (Mrs) Asha Ghanekar requested Shree Godbole to send an article on Shivaji for their group. This was sent and much appreciated by the group.

1.9 Hindu customs

While travelling by Gulf Air, Godbole picked up their magazine for passengers (January/February 2003). It has some interesting information.

Bill Gates the Microsoft tycoon visited Hindusthan. He is received by a Hindu woman who puts a red Tila (Tilak) on his forehead. Bill Gates accepts this welcome. (page 36) What a pity that our own women pride in NOT wearing the Tila on their forehead!!

1.10 The British, Hindus and Muslims

It is astonishing that after all these years we Hindus believe that to the British, Hindus and Muslims are the same. They are not.

1.10.1 While walking through the corridors of Bedford General hospital in October 2002 I noticed that there was a Chapel for Christians and a Mosque for Muslims, but NO TEMPLE for Hindus.

There has been a Hindu Society in Bedford for more than 15 years. Many Hindu Doctors and Consultants who work in the Hospital are members of the Hindu society. How come they do not notice this discrimination?

It is high time we got rid of the stupid notion that to the British, Hindus and Muslims are the same.

1.10.2 In January, Police in North London raided some houses and found Muslim terrorist suspects which had stored Ricin, a deadly poison which is easy to apply but very difficult to detect. Dr Magnus Ranstop reported in the Evening Standard on 8 January (page11) that six North African men were arrested. He did not say that they were Muslims!! The Daily Mail used the same words as the Evening Standard.

Then came shocking news on 16 January. Following the raids in North London, Police in Manchester raided a house in Manchester and found four bogus asylum seekers. When being questioned by the police, one of the suspects went in kitchen took a knife and fatally stabbed Detective Constable Stephen Oake. And yet all the British papers reported that the men were of North African origin. Not one of them said that they were North Africa Muslims!! That is how much the British love Muslims.

1.11 Godbole’s visit to Hindusthan (February 2003). Some impressions

Bouquets

* We Hindus do have brains. Three examples were seen in the daily paper in Marathi, Sakal.

(A) Rainfall had been mush less than usual for 3 years in succession. One farmer in Maharashtra discovered that despite the water shortage, there was still a type of grape he could produce. And it did give him a bumper crop.

(B) Similarly another farmer fought against the heat. He realised that if he could keep temperature down by 3 degrees Centigrade he could get a good yield of pepper. He did manage to do that.

(C) We do not have horse power, but we do have bull power. One Engineer showed how various contrivances could be run attached to the bullock cart to facilitate various works on the farm.

* Godbole distributed copies to his friends of an historical map of our motherland which was known as Hindoosthan and NOT India. It was printed in London in 1808 on the west side it had a border with Iran. Many were pleased and surprised by this discovery.

* Godbole also distributed copies of a Church where on the dome a Cross is imposed on Moon crescent. There are such churches in Moscow, Latvia and other Baltic states. When Muslims invaded these countries they imposed their moon crescent on top of churches. When Christians defeated Muslims they imposed their Cross over the Moon Crescent to show the defeat of Muslims.

Brickbats

* Trees are being cut at alarming rate. While travelling from Pune to Kolhapur, I was shocked to find huge banyan trees cut down to make way for widened road. This causes enormous damage to the environment.

* In many places dividers are placed in the centre of road for better control of traffic, but no bushes are ever planted.

* Godbole stayed in a housing society belonging to High-income middle class people. There was a party in evening on the day before a marriage ceremony. Chairs were arranged for people to sit and they were served ice cream. All the cartons were simply thrown on ground, making an eye sore sight in the morning.

* While visiting the famous Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur, a friend of my relation came to meet us and said that he had some historical information for us. There is an inscription on stone and it has been nicely written on a board for people to read. He said that a Muslim Sultan did not have a son. So he prayed the Goddess Ambabai. He was blessed with a son and he provided for some arched galleries on the perimeter of the temple. And he pointed out to the pointed arches. He had to leave in a hurry. When Godbole looked carefully at the inscription he was startled by the date of construction of arched galleries. It was 40 years before the famous Saint Dnyandev composed his famous works Dnyaneshwari. There were no Muslim Sultans in Maharashtra in those days!!

This just shows how we have fixed ideas in our minds, namely that pointed arches means Islamic work.

* International Cricket matches were being televised. One woman presenter was dressed to show that she was not wearing a bra. That was absolutely disgusting.

1.12 Godbole’s visit to America (July 2003)

In July, Shree and Sau Godbole attended gathering in New York of Marathi speaking people of America.

* They met Mr Prakash Waghmare, who had made great efforts to collect funds for the film on Savarkar.

* They stayed at Shree Sardesai’s place in Poughkeepsie, which is 90 miles north of New York. They visited Pogouhkeepsie Rural Cemetery where the ashes of Dr Anandi Gopal Joshi are kept in the Eighmie Lot. She was the first Hindu woman to qualify as a doctor in America in 1886. We mentioned about this in one of previous Newsletters.

In the same place is the house of F D Roosevelt, former US President. Inside is an exhibition relating to the Second World War. Godbole was struck by a particular poster. It read, “ To those who lived through the terror of World War II – and to those who perished in battle, in their homes, or in concentration camps – the war’s outcome was anything but sure. …..

It is not that America might have lost the war. But it could have gone on much longer. And many more soldiers, like those pictured here, might have been killed. ….. The margin between victory and defeat proved to be very narrow indeed……..

The holocaust is neither a turning point nor even a controversy. It is simply an unsurpassed horror.”

Note – Even after more than 50 years, the Americans are realistic about the war. Why can’t the Hindus learn that?

1.13 Samiti Shibir (2 August 2003)

Godbole was invited to attend the final session of Girls’ training camp arranged by Samiti (Woman’s branch of RSS). He did and found following aspects rather worrying.

Posters on wall of our heroes

* Tatya Topie

* Dr Jagdishchandra Bose

We saw pictures of these two but no information was given

* Dhingra – No photograph, no date of birth. Most astonishing of all was his father’s remarks at the bottom, “ Madanlal is a disgrace to the family name of Dhingra.”

In future such sentences must be deleted. The participants can gather information. It is for the elders to guide them.

* Gandhi

The information stated – Prior to independence in 1947 there was a lot of fighting between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi tried to bring them together by fasting

This is humbug. Gandhi always put pressure on Hindus not to retaliate after Muslim riots.

* Tilak and Savarkar

These two heroes were NOT mentioned at all. WHY??

Symbols

* Swastika – our symbol is never inclined. It is either clockwise (mantrik) or anti-clockwise (tantrik)

* Lotus – information was not correct. Lotus is born out of mud but it still gives out fragrance and has beautiful colour.

Jana Gana Mana was mentioned but NOT Vande Mataram.

Dr (Mrs) Vidula Ambekar accepted the comments and would take up the matter with the organisers.

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

2.1 Slide shows

While in Hindusthan Godbole made three slide shows

1. At Abhinav Vidyamandir, a school in Kalyan on 1 February 2003. Some 200 students and 40 members of staff attended. It was well appreciated. This was arranged by Dr Agarkar of Kalyan

2. At RSS shakha at Goregav, Mumbai on 1 February 2003. 15 RSS workers attended. This was organised by Shree Ajit Vartak, a computer Engineer

3. At residence of Shree Ashok Athavale in Pune. 10 people attended

Our friend Dr Agarkar of Kalyan also made shows at following places

* Bedekar Vidyamandir, Thane on Saturday June 28, 2003 at 6 p.m. It was a part of Bhave Rastriya Vyakhyanmala arranged every year. Dr. V. N. Bedekar was in the chair. The programme was received very well. It was attended by about 100 participants mostly teachers

* In August one more slide show on London Tour was arranged at Dombivali. There is a group of retired military officers settled in and around Dombivali who arranged the show.

2.2 Tours

Godbole conducted two tours

First one was on Saturday 12 April 2003. Eight visitors from Hindusthan attended.

The second one was on Saturday 12 July. Five visitors from Hindusthan attended.

3. History today

3.1 Syrian President visits London

On 16 December 2002 we watched BBC TV News at 10 p.m.

We saw the joint press conference in London of Syrian President Bashar Asad and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Asad was educated in England, his wife is also British. But he answered questions put to him in ARABIC. His attitude was “ If you want to understand me, learn Arabic.”

Can you imagine any Hindu behaving in a similar way? Why do they suddenly become senile with the slightest contact with the British? Just look at the seasonal Greeting cards you get. How many of your friends write their messages in our own languages? Why should the world respect us???

And what does Asad have? Oil? No. Money? No. Gold? No. But look at his attitude!

3.2 Prelude to war in Iraq

(A)Tuesday 7 February 2003 BBC Radio 4 : Time 06:30 hrs

Possible use of land of Turkey by America for invasion of Iraq. The question was - Would Turkey allow its soil to be used by Americans?

Yes but with a condition! Turkey claims that when the Ottoman Empire was dismantled after the end of World War I she lost some territory to Iraq that now has oilfields. Turkey wants that territory back. That is their price.

Look at us Indians! We know nothing but give, give, give - to Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. We NEVER talk of demanding the return of any territory!! No wonder no one gives a hoot to us in the world.

(B) Wednesday 8 February 2003BBC Radio 4 : Time 06:30 hrs

Would Turkey allow its territory to be used by British forces for possible invasion of Iraq?

NO.

Why?

Because Britain (and France) was instrumental in dismantling the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War II. Turkish memories run deep.

Dear oh dear. Look at us Indian Hindus. We have forgotten barbarities committed by Pakis on our soldiers during Kargil war and had given red carpet treatment to general Musharaf responsible for the barbarities. We have no memoirs of barbarities committed on our border security forces by villagers of Bangladesh just 2 years ago. And Turkey remembers its insults 84 years on !!

4 Why we cannot tell the truth.

After all these years, people still ask Godbole, “ If what you say about Taj Mahal is true, why don’t the historians accept it.” The simply answer is – many times we are afraid of speaking the truth and many times it is twisted. Let us take examples of each.

4.1 £293,000 for worker who blew the whistle

An accountant sacked for exposing his boss’ expenses fiddles was yesterday awarded £293,000 in compensation.

Antonio Fernandes, 59, was dismissed from his £70,000-a-year job after he revealed managing director Stephen Woodhouse had netted £370,000 in unsubstantiated expenses and cash advances in three years.

Mr Woodhouse spent the money on a house, Caribbean holidays, shopping sprees at Harrods and adoption of a child, an employment tribunal was told.

Mr Fernandes, of Calcot, Berkshire, wrote to the US Directors of Reading-based Netcom Consultants UK last November to outline his concerns about Mr Woodhouse’s claims. The hearing in London was told Mr Fernandes’s UK superiors summoned him to a disciplinary meeting three days later and asked him to resign. When he refused, he was dismissed.

His claim for unfair dismissal was the first brought under the Public Interest Disclosures Act, which is designed to protect whistleblowers from facing reprisals.

The tribunal panel ruled that there was ‘a clear attempt to intimidate the pressurise Mr Fernandes to resign so that all could be hushed up.’ adding ‘It is an irresistible conclusion that managers decided to get rid of the more junior man who had disclosed the position.

Mr Fernandes told the tribunal Mr Woodhouse had initially handed in expenses forms backed up by receipts but this then changed.

‘He simply asked me to make the payments and never submitted documentation.’ He added, ‘ I felt I shouldn’t be signing but he was my MD, so I signed.’

Mr Woodhouse, who resigned in February this year, eventually convinced managers that £70,000 he had claimed was business related. However, Netcom’s US parent company Xsource has ordered him to repay the outstanding£312,000 or face legal action.

4.2 Attlee war record given ‘dramatic spin’

On 7 September 1998 Will Bennett reported for the Daily Telegraph. He said

The First World War military record of Clement Attlee, the Labour leader, was altered after he became Prime Minister to make it look more dramatic than it actually was.

Officials at Downing Street were keen to put some gloss on Attlee’s time as an officer in the South Lancashire Regiment and Tank Corps.

They approved, and may have written, a version of his war service, which said he had served in France with in the latter part of war.

In reality, he served in England from the end of 1916 until the Armistice in November 1918, except for a few brief periods on the Western Front.

5 Historical research

5.1 .PRE-ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST

In February I paid a short visit to Pune. While travelling by Gulf Air I picked up their magazine for passengers (January/February 2003).

It has some interesting information.

For centuries Muslims have refused to accept that there were civilisations before Islam. Today, with the advent of tourism things have changed

* On pages 26 to 28 Juliet Highet describes the experience of cruising through history of 5000 years in Egypt. (One has to accept that there was superb civilisation in Egypt before the birth of Islam). We find information about many ancient temples. On page 28 we are told, " The temple at Karnak - Amon-Ra was worshipped for a longer period of time than the existence of Christianity."

* On pages 38 and 39 we find - Bahrain through the ages. The article by Sandhya Rajayer deals with Archaeology of the region 2200 years BC.

If we are sensible enough we can gather information about ancient Arabia. There are museums galore throughout the region.

5.2 TEMPLE TO CHURCH TO MOSQUE

On pages 42 and 43 of above Magazine of Gulf Air we find 'City Guide' to Damascus, which they say has been in existence since 5000 B.C. What about the city's famous mosque?

We find

Umayyad Mosque - The history of the mosque traces the history of Damascus. It was built in the year 705 on the site of an ancient temple, which had been adapted and enlarged by the Romans and then replaced with a Christian cathedral. The Cathedral was converted into a mosque when Islam came to the region. Despite being gutted in a fire in the 19th century, it's still a jewel of Muslim architecture with intricate mosaics and three original minarets. The mosque houses the Tomb of St John the Baptist.

5.3 Liberal California confronts years of forced sterilisation

On 11 July 2003 Chris Ayres reported in The Times, “ At least 20,000 people were victims of a eugenics programme.”

Highlighting a revelation showing that California was not always the home of liberal politics, the state is considering a formal apology to at least 20,000 people who were sterilised against their will between the early 1900s and late 1960s as part of a eugenics programme designed to strengthen the Aryan gene pool.

The programme was sanctioned by the Supreme Court and provided a blueprint for Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, which borrowed heavily from American laws when introducing forced sterilisation for its own “undesirables”.

The enthusiasm of white, wealthy Californians for racial streamlining in the 1920s was lampooned in F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which satirised one of the most popular books on the subject, The Rising Tide of Colour by Lothorp Stoddart.

Although California’s eugenics programme was initially aimed at the mentally ill and physically disabled, some historians say that it was also used to stop Mexican and Asian immigrants from having families.

One of the most influential eugenics proponents was Ezra Gosney, a citrus magnate from Pasadena, who founded the Human Betterment Foundation in 1926. His supporters included Harry Chandler, publisher of The Los Angeles Times, which ran a story in 1935 under the headline of Why Hitler Says: ‘Sterilise the Unfit!’ It went on: “Here perhaps, is an aspect of the new Germany that America, with the rest of the world, can little afford to criticise.”

Other eugenics enthusiasts included Charles Goethe, founder of the Eugenics Society of Northern California, who said in 1929 that the Mexican was “eugenically as low-powered as the Negro. He not only does not understand health rules: being a superstitious savage, he resists them.”

Today, Goethe has a park named after him in Sacramento, the state capital.

Although American eugenics was practised most widely in California, 31 other states had similar programmes to “clean up the gene pool”. In North Carolina the state has ordered an enquiry into its own eugenics programme and in Oregon, the state’s Governor has apologised in person to some of the victims of forced sterilisation.

Although Gary Davis, the California’s Governor, issued an apology in March to the victims of the state’s programme, the Californian Senate has yet to pass a resolution on the subject.

The statement proposed by Senator Dede Alpert, a democrat, would express “profound regret” over the state’s involvement and urge “every citizen of the state to become familiar with the history of the eugenics movement, in the hope that a more educated and tolerant populace will reject any similar abhorrent pseudoscientific movement should it arise in the future.”

Critics, however, have called the apology meaningless because the state has not made any attempt to locate the victims.

Others, such as Paul Lombardo, a University of Virginia historian, said that the Governor’s apology was premature, because the State of California did not know how many people were involuntarily sterilised.

Even the date when forced sterilisation programme ended is unknown, although it may have been as late as 1969. Patient confidentiality rules have made research difficult and forced sterilisations remained legal until 1979.

Anyone with “mental disease” could be sterilised if doctors thought the condition could be passed to descendants. Mental diseases, was a loose term, used to cover everything from epilepsy to homosexuality.

Some women were sterilised for being “promiscuous” Although it is widely believed eugenics was also used mainly against non-whites, no survey of the racial profile of sterilisation patients has ever been conducted.

There is plenty of evidence, however, that non-whites were targets. One popular 1926 eugenics textbook said: “ The Negro lacks in his germ plasm [a term for hereditary material] excellence of some qualities which are essential for success in competition with the civilisations of the white races at the present day.”

Even poor rural whites were considered a “degenerate” form

Some doctors, however, have argued that they regarded sterilisation as a humane treatment for patients, along with lobotomies and other practices that have since been discredited.

“In practice, we didn’t sterilise the severely retarded.” Said Dr William Keating, a Californian surgeon at the Sonoma State Home for the Feeble-Minded during the 1950s, in a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times.

“ They had very little opportunity for sex. The people we concentrated on were people who were moderately retarded, who had a chance of going out and getting pregnant.”

Tony Platt, Emeritus Professor of Social Work at California State University and a eugenics expert, recently asked the California Senate judiciary committee to give researchers full access to internal records, on the condition that patients’ identities are protected.

“ As we now grapple with public policies pertaining to genetic technologies that promise to solve global problems of disease and malnutrition, it is important to remember the legacy of eugenics,” he told the committee.

“ In the name of human betterment, scientific ideas and practices can only be used to promote and reproduce extraordinary inequalities.”

6 Visitors

* In June, Dr Mirajkar of New Delhi was in London on his way to America. VHP had organised a lecture by him. Godbole met Mirajkar at the function. Later Mirajkar informed that he was impressed by the historical work of Godbole. Mirajkar and his wife are both professors of linguistics in Delhi University.

* In July, Shree Rajiv Varma of America came to London. He called on Godbole. Varma is doing wonderful work of awakening Hindus of America.

* In July, Dr Bedekar of Thane had been to the International Sanskrit Conference in Helsinki. Afterwards he stayed with the Godboles for three weeks and carried out his research.

7. BEHAVIOUR OF CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS TODAY

7.1 THE MUSLIMS

7.1.1 Caste system among Pakistani Muslims in U.K

The BBC is always biased against the Hindus and favours the Muslims. It was therefore surprise to listen to BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 24 August 2003. The programme is religious and is called “Sunday”. It runs from 0700 hrs to 0750 hrs. The programme touched on Caste system among Pakistani Muslims settled in U.K. Research done by a Muslim reporter revealed that Pakistanis have retained their original Hindu castes such as Rajput or Jat. In a particular locality there is large Muslim population. But when it came to selecting a candidate for election to Local Councils, High caste Muslims would rather vote for a White candidate than allow a low caste (such carpenter) Muslim to come up.

We need to do thorough research on this important subject.

8 Acknowledgement

Shree Godbole wishes to thank all those who had contributed financially for his book on Rationalism of Veer Savarkar.