INDIAN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH INTO TRUE HISTORY

 

NEWSLETTER NO. 45 OF 16 JUNE 2006

 

1. NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.1 Rationalism of Veer Savarkar.

1.1.1 Oxford University has received a copy of the above book by Shree Godbole. After studying it Dr Owen of Department of Politics had requested Godbole to translate into English Savarkar’s 43 Newsletters from London and also his book Shatruchya Shibirat. Godbole agreed. The work was done and sent to Dr Owen on 28 May (Savarkar’s birthday). It was not just a case of translation from one language into another. It is a history of our freedom struggle against the British, a hundred years ago. Godbole had provided extensive footnotes and explanations that are essential for understanding that history.

 

1.1.2 Shree Barjorbhai Avari, on behalf of Manchester Metropolitan University invited Shree Godbole to deliver a lecture. Accordingly Godbole delivered the lecture on 1 June. Thirty-five people attended. It was well received.

 

 

1.2 Ayurveda in Europe

While in Hindusthan on holiday in December 2005/January 2006 Godbole came across a paper cutting. It read –

On behalf of European Ayurved Academy, Dr Ravindra Khadilkar was presented with the honour of ‘Ayurved Parangat’ for his research. Present at the ceremony were Dr P H Kulkarni, Dr Appasaheb Gosawi and famous sitar player Ustad Usman Khan.

 

European Ayurved Academy held its 7th international conference in Carinoldo in Italy. It honoured Dr Khadilkar.

Dr Avinash Bedekar had presented a paper on ‘haemorrhage during pregnancy due to mental stress.’ He was given a gold medal for his paper.

Both Doctor Khadilkar and Bedekar could not be present in Italy. They were therefore given the awards in Pune during the function organised by European Ayurved Academy and Eugenics Research centre. These were handed over by Dr Appasaheb Gosavi, Director of Vedamurti Institute of Astrology and Management and internationally famous sitarist Ustad Usman Khan.

Dr P H Kulkarni was in the chair. He said, “350 herbs found in Africa are used as medicine. Our Ayurveda also mentions 40 herbs found in Europe as having medicinal uses. This needs to be explored further. “

Ustad Usman Khan said, “Aryuveda and Bharatiya music are gifts of our civilisation. Professionals working in both fields can proudly say so in the world.”

 

Comment – Were you aware of European Ayurved Academy? It just shows how little we know about ourselves.

 

 

1.3 Miracles do happen.

 

1.3.1 Blind man ‘cured by his prayers.’

On 28 February 2005, Metro, the London based paper reported (p13)

A blind man claims he regained the sight in one eye through the power of prayer. John Jones said he got down on bended knee before going to bed to ask for sight back. When he woke up next day, his sight was restored. ‘It was a miracle. I am on cloud nine,’ he added. The 74-year-old, from Warminster, Wiltshire, lost his left eye as a child and was left totally blind by disease last year.

 

1.3.2 Power of brotherly love

On 11 January 2005, Georgina Littlejohn reported for Metro, the London based paper reported on page 3

For five-year-old Joshua Westwell, nothing seemed able to stop cancer attacking his body three times in a row. Gruelling chemotherapy and radiography had failed to stop tumours growing on his liver and lungs.

His parents Karen and Paul were told there was little hope for him.

But when Mrs Westwell fell pregnant, Joshua wished he could have a baby brother to play with. And, since little Lewis arrived last August, he has been given a new lease of life.

 

Joshua has received the cancer all-clear and the bond with his brother has made him stronger. Mrs Westwell, 25, of Bacup, Lancashire, said: ‘I think he wanted a brother so much it gave him the will to survive.’

 

 

1.4 Visit to Hindusthan.

Mr and Mrs Godbole visited Hindusthan in November/December 2005 and January 2006. They stayed mostly in Pune, Thane, and Mumbai.

Very briefly Mr Godbole did the following –

* Delivered lectures at three places on how Indian History has been twisted.

(Institute for Oriental studies, Thane  - 2 December 05, Yadnyavalka Ashram, Kalyan, 3 December 05, Dnyan Prabhodini, Pune, 1 January 06)

* Made a slide show on his Special London Tour. (Kalyan, 3 December 05)

* Made two slide shows on Taj Mahal: Facts and Fantasies.

(Prof Asnani’s residence in Sindhi colony, Aundh, Pune  - 4 December 05, Sarswat Colony, near Pune Railway station, 10 December 05)

* Delivered a lecture on “Some problems of working on London Underground Railway.” At the Institution of Engineers.

 

In Pune, Godbole met Shree Shyam Apte an old RSS worker, along with Ashok Athawale (a life long friend). Shree Apte asked, “You have done some wonderful work. What next?”

Godbole replied, “One person cannot do everything. I have done the basic research and have laid down foundation. Any one can build on it.”

Shree Apte then proposed to send copies of Godbole’s work to Bharat Itihas Sankalan Samiti, which he did. And eventually Godbole and Athawale met Dr Hebalkar of the Samiti. He requested Godbole to keep on sending his research work to him and he will ensure that copies of relevant sections are distributed to appropriate persons.

Already Godbole’s work – British Historians, Muslims and Tragedy of India, has been distributed to many scholars.

 

CD on Taj Mahal

Shree Apte had also suggested that slides of Godbole and Athawale should now be put on a CD. One Mr Pawaskar came to know of Godbole’s work and he contacted Mr Revankar who has put the slides of both Godbole and Athawale on a CD. Lot more needs to be added to make the CD comprehensive.

 

 

Some observations –

Transport

* Huge network of roads has been built, North-South (Shreenagar to Kanyakumari) East-West (Bengal to Gujarat), also the Highways making a diamond shape. A retired Chief Engineer told Godbole that this was due to Bajpayee who made huge funds available for the programme. Those who have used this network of roads have reported that they are excellent. It shows what CAN be done.

However, the roads in the cities are in poor condition. Crossing roads is a nightmare. At one time Mrs Godbole was escorted by a policeman! One of her relations was knocked down while crossing road near her house and had to receive hospital treatment for broken bones.

 

* Roads –saw grass and shrubs being grown in the central reservations. This is quite good.

At times I even saw men wearing orange shirts while working on maintenance of roads. This is quite a good safety measure.

 

There are going to be two serious side effects– Railway travel is affected. If one can travel faster by road, why would you travel by Rail? Middle classes have become rich and have plenty of money to spare. Many can afford to have cars.

Criminals can also travel fast by roads. There is growing insecurity among middle classes. I was astonished to read many daylight thefts and robberies

That did not use to happen until recently.

 

* Air Transport

Air travel is also on the increase. The cost is comparable to Rail travel cost, i.e. it is affordable. Once again it is going to affect Rail travel badly. If you can travel by air in 2 hours, why would you spend 12 hours travelling by Rail?

 

* Pollution

Air pollution has reached alarming level. Sakal paper of Pune monitors and publishes pollution levels in Pune. The actual level is 3 times the desirable!!

This is bound to have serious repercussions for health in years to come.

 

River pollution is just as bad. The rivers Mula and Mutha of Pune are full of algae. One cannot see water at all. Famous river Yamuna (Jumna) in the north has become a sewer. This affects quality of life of people.

 

* It was astonishing to read cases of artificial colouring applied to fruits and vegetables!! This was never heard of before.

 

* Destruction of heritage

During various constructions no care is taken to preserve our heritage.

Two cases were noted. One was water supply works at the time of Maratha Peshawas. Other one was rocks of special Geological importance near Pune. Both have been completely destroyed during construction of Roads and Bulidings..

 

* Unsafe/unauthorised buildings.

Balcony of a building collapsed killing 3 people. When the picture of the failed balcony appeared in the papers, it appeared as if there was no reinforcement. There were also cases of other buildings declared unsafe. Where would the residents go? They had used all their life savings to acquire the flats.

 

* Many buildings in Ullahsnagar (near Mumbai) were unauthorised and the Mumbai High court issued orders to demolish them. The state government intervened, passed a law to legalise the unauthorised buildings!! Those who profited by such illegal acts were NOT punished.

 

These problems exist all over the country. New Delhi is notorious for such illegal buildings.

 

Insecurity

* Increased prosperity in Maharashtra has led to large influx of construction workers from Bihar and Rajasthan, many of whom turn to crime. Barbarity of the crimes was never witnessed in Maharashtra before. It was worrying that even bird-watchers and trekkers were threatened by robbers.

 

* Modern Technology : Mobile telephones / cameras/ CDs

Mobile telephones are widespread. Even Rikshawalas use them. Similarly Digital cameras are also in common use. Many of the computers do not have any facility to use floppies at all. They all use CDs.

 

* Ramdevbaba’s Yoga and Pranayam Classes.

Godboles attended these classes and were impressed by Baba’s approach. He has his ashram in Haridwar, manufactures Aurvedic medicines and helps people of all classes to improve their health. He also exposes the designs of Multinational drug and medicine companies. As a result false accusations were made against him. But recently (May 2006) all the charges have been proved to be false.

 

* TV and papers

TV has gone down in quality and is as useless as the one in America and Canada. One just cannot bear watch it.

On the other hand, quality of Newspapers and their supplements has improved remarkably. For example, Men serving in the Armed Forces are quite young when they retire. Until now they were only offered jobs as Security Guards, but now they have many skills such as Mechanical Engineering or IT. They should be offered jobs to suit their training and experience.

 

*Medical matters

* Donation of bodies- I was surprised to know that two women (my relatives) had donated their entire bodies for medical research, after their death.

 

* Dental treatment is simply wonderful, and is far more advanced than in England.

 

* Many surgical operations are successfully carried out. What is lacking is post –operation treatment.

 

* Communists crush poor people in Bengal.

Hand rickshaws were a common sight in Calcutta. That was the only means of survival for many poor people. All of a sudden, the Government of West Bengal banned their use without any thought of their welfare.

 

* Memorial to Savarkar

This is erected on the spot in Pune where Savarkar organised a bonfire of English clothes to protest against partition of Bengal in October 1906.

 

Memorial to Vasudev Balwant Phdakae

While in Pune, Godbole met a Reporter working for a major newspaper. He is deeply involved in erecting a memorial to Phadake who tried to revolt against the British Rule in the 1870s. Godbole had a long discussion with the reporter who was impressed by Godbole’s research work on Savarkar and other revolutionaries.

 

Godbole pointed out that it was reported in contemporary papers that Phadake was charged with – waging war against Queen Victoria and conspiracy to wage war against the Queen. A matter of great honour indeed.

After coming back to England Godbole found the reference in The Times (of London).

3 November 1879, Page 5 reads,

"Wassadoo Bulwant Phadake has been committed for trial on the charges of conspiring to wage war against the Queen, of collecting men and arms to wage war, of exciting disaffection against the Government, and of committing dacoities. He has reserved his defence."

Very important words indeed.

 

Memorial to Chaphekar brothers.

During the plague outbreak of 1897, in Pune, the British authorities resorted to measures, so oppressive that the people thought the death was better than humiliation by British soldier, who resorted to looting, insensitive handling and even molesting of women some of whom committed suicide.

 

After realising that nothing will bring the British Administrators to their senses Chaphekar brothers shot dead Mr Rand, the Collector of Pune, on the day of diamond jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria.

 

The house where Chaphekar brothers once lived in Chinchavad, (about 20 miles from Pune) has been preserved and is now being converted into a Museum. Godbole donated a small amount of money for this valuable work.

It was interesting to note that the descendants of Chaphekar brothers are still alive and meet at the memorial once a year.

The memorial depicts activities of other revolutionaries also.

After returning to England, Godbole sent to the Museum trustees a copy of extract from his Newsletter 43 of 16 June 2005 – Hitler’s Indian Army.

 

 

1.5 Death of Gopal Godse

Gopal Godse, the last of the accused in Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, died of heart attack in Pune on 26 November 2005 just a day before he was due to meet Godbole. They were going to discuss many legal issues, which are still not clear. Afterwards, Godbole started going through the legal papers kept by Godse’s wife Sindhutai. He was astonished to find that though Godse suffered so much persecution at the hands of the Congress administration, he tells very little about it in his book – Gandhihatya ani mee. Godbole has started to scan the legal documents for future use by researchers.

 

1.6 DVD in film on Savarkar

This is now available from all well-known music shops in Mumbai /Pune. Godbole has some copies at his home in England.

 

1.7 Museum dedicated to Indian Revolutionaries.

While in Pune, Godbole came across a poem sung by INA soldiers of Subhashchandra Bose – Kadam, Kadam Bdhaye ja, Khushike geeta gayeja.

He has scanned it for preservation.

 

1.8 Sources of Information

British Library, London

At times it is important to know if a book exists and is kept in British Library. There is one way to find out.

Go to Internet

Google

British Library

Integrated Catalogue

Now type in what you know – title/author and you can search from then onwards.

 

Sometimes only a part of title is known. For example – ‘by an eyewitness.’

If you put this for your research you will get 231 entries and then you choose which entry you want. I wanted Crucifixion by an eye witness

There are two editions of the book. I got the catalogue numbers also. Next time I go to British Library I can order the book quickly.

 

1.9 Soldier sentenced to death for grenade attack on comrades

On 29 April 2005 Sam Lyon reported for The Evening Standard

 

A US military jury yesterday sentenced an Army sergeant to death for

killing two officers in a grenade and rifle attack on his comrades in Kuwait

two years ago.

 

Sergeant Hasan Akbar, above, a former member of the 101st Airborne

division, was found guilty a week ago on two counts of premeditated murder

and three counts of attempted premeditated murder after a trial at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

 

The trial is subject to review by a high ranking military officer, who could approve the sentence or reduce it, officials said. After that review, the case will be automatically appealed to higher US military courts. The last time an American soldier faced a court-martial for murdering a comrade in wartime was during the Vietnam War, and the last military execution was in 1961.

 

"Sgt Hasan Akbar was sentenced to death by a military panel here," Port

Bragg officials said yesterday. The charges stemmed from nighttime attack at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait on 23 March 2003, as 101st Air- borne soldiers awaited orders to move into Iraq.

 

Akbar was accused of rolling grenades into soldiers' tents and firing a rifle at those who emerged. Captain Christopher Seifert and Major Gregory Stone were killed and 14 others were wounded.

 

Akbar's mother and military lawyers said he had snapped in the

face of ridicule of his Muslim faith and harassment by fellow soldiers.

 

There were three possible sentences - death, life in prison with a possibility of parole or life without parole.

 

Note – Now American will have to realise the dangers of Islam. Just suppose, what would have happened if this Muslim soldier were a high-ranking officer instead of a mere Sergeant

 

 

1.10 Religious groups are exploiting Aceh chaos

On 14 February 2005, Marianne Kearney in Darussalam, Aceh (Indonesia) reported for The Daily Telegraph (p16)

 

DOZENS of Muslim and Christian groups are exploiting the chaos wrought by the tsunami in the Indonesian province of Aceh to spread their message and compete for influence, secular aid workers said yesterday.

 

Many religious charities are offering purely humanitarian aid and have policies against proselytising but some have made blatant attempts to win hearts and minds.

 

An American missionary organisation has claimed to have flown out large numbers of orphans to be looked after and educated in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. More than 110,000 people have died in Indonesia and hundreds

of thousands are without adequate food, shelter and medicine.

 

The Virginia-based group WorldHelp said on its website in an appeal for funds that it had airlifted 300 "tsunami orphans" to Jakarta, to be raised in a Christian centre. "If we can place them in a Christian children's home,

their faith in Christ could become the foothold to reach the Aceh people," it said. The appeal said WorldHelp was working with Indonesian born Christians who want to "plant Christian principles as early as possible", reported The Washington Post.

 

After WorldHelp was contacted by the newspaper, it removed the appeal. Aid workers in Aceh said they had not heard of the organisation or the removal of large numbers of children.

 

At a relief camp in the grounds of the mosque in Darussalam, five miles outside Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, a volunteer from a conservative Muslim boarding school claimed that an Islamic political party had removed 20 orphans to Jakarta. That claim could not be substantiated but amid the confusion at the camp the competition between rival groups was clear. Late in the afternoon Ahmad Salikun, the volunteer, gave children a lesson on the Koran.

 

Downstairs four foreigners in Church of Scientology T- shirts, said to be Americans, were offering massage to refugees lounging on rattan mats. The church has set up an office in Banda Aceh. The Scientologists are unlikely to make many inroads among the devoutly Muslim population, but they could easily provoke clashes and a subsequent crackdown on humanitarian groups, international aid organisations fear. "You take traumatised people and do counselling for them, this is very dangerous," said one aid worker who has been in Aceh for years.

 

Christine Knudsen, a child protection officer with Save the Children, said the radical Islamic groups that have moved in from Java were at odds with Acehnese tradition. Devout but tolerant, the Acehnese Muslims have turned

away hardliners in the past. But with their society devastated by the tsunami, and the militant groups receiving the implicit backing of the Indonesian military, observers fear that the Acehnese will be unable to resist attempts to   impose more hardline Muslim values.

 

Note – This just shows how blind to reality we Hindus are even today! Muslims and Christians want to increase their numbers by any means, even at a time like Tsunami!!

 

1.11 Fake reporter unmasked at White House

We recently saw one example of how the American Democracy works in practice. On 11 February 2005 Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington reported for The Guardian

The White House faced fresh accusations of a clandestine propaganda campaign yesterday after it emerged it granted regular access to a rightwing blogger with a habit of asking President Bush easy questions. Jeff Gannon, who represented a rightwing site owned by a Texas-based Republican activist, had been a regular at White House briefings since 2003 but aroused reporters' suspicions after posing ideologically loaded questions.

The fake White House correspondent quit his job at the Talon News site on Wednesday after liberal bloggers found he had been operating under a

pseudonym, and that he was linked to several gay pornographic web domain addresses under his real identity, James Guckert.

 

The White House spokesman, Scott McLellan, has dismissed charges that Gannon was part of an underground propaganda effort as "just a wild conspiracy theory".

 

But questions remained yesterday about why the White House suspended the normally rigorous vetting process to issue daily passes to an organisation rejected by the Senate last year for not being a legitimate media outlet.

 

The extent of Gannon's links to an earlier White House scandal — the leaking of the name of the CIA agent Valerie Plame — also remained unclear yesterday. Gannon has been targeted for questioning in that case.

 

"It's just common sense that the White House knew who Jeff Gannon was, and they were waving him in for a reason," said David Brock, director of Media Matters for America, the liberal monitoring group which named the

reporter last week.

 

Gannon's unmasking comes only weeks after the Bush administration admitted paying handsome sums to three conservative commentators to promote its social programmes in print, radio and TV, and has led to calls from Democrats for an explanation.

 

"It appears that Mr Gannon's presence in the White House press corps was merely a tool of propaganda for your administration," the Democratic congresswoman Louise Slaughter wrote in a letter to Mr Bush.

 

In its investigations Media Matters for America discovered, that Talon News was owned by a Texas-based Republican activist called Roger Eberle, and that its so-called correspondent was in the habit of lifting verbatim large chunks of White House and Republican party press releases without attribution.

 

It also discovered a disturbing pattern at White House press conferences during the year or so when Gannon was a regular fixture.

 

"You could see there was a pattern in which the White House press secretary, Scott McLellan, would be getting a more aggressive and less friendly question, and then would seem to call on Jeff Gannon to change the subject.

And when he did he got a softball question in return," Mr Brock said.

 

The fake reporter's downfall came last week when he attracted suspicion with a particularly loaded question to the president on how he would enlist Democratic support for his social security reforms.

 

After falsely attributing quotes to Democratic leaders, Gannon asked: "How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?"

 

Mr Brock then launched his investigation. Subsequent inquiries by liberal bloggers uncovered Gannon's links to gay porn domain addresses under his real name, and a posted photograph of a man posing in his underwear with

his initials. The exposure prompted Gannon to resign his job at Talon, although he has shown no remorse about his conduct at the White House.

 

"I asked .a question at a White House press briefing and this is what happened to me. If this is what happens to me, what reporter is safe?" he

told a newspaper in his hometown in Delaware yesterday.

 

Meanwhile, Talon News was looking for a replacement correspondent on its website yesterday.                                                          guardian.co.uk/usa

 

 

1.12 Italians mark war massacre

 

On 11 February 2005, Sophie Arie in Rome reported for The Guardian.

 

Over the past few days millions of Italians have been watching dramatic scenes of ethnic cleansing on their television screens. But the images are not of the Holocaust, Rwanda or Darfur. It is the first film to be made in Italy about the massacre of up to 15,000 men, women and children, many killed by

Yugoslav communists towards the end of the Second World War just for being Italian.

 

It is the hardest-hitting part of a government campaign to draw attention to a little known event, which was marked for the first time yesterday 60 years on, with a national day of remembrance.

 

Parliament observed a minute's silence and the foreign minister, Gianfranco Fini, and other dignitaries attended a military ceremony in the north-eastern city of Trieste, where many of the crimes were committed.

 

Red, white and green lapel ribbons and 3.5m special stamps were issued by the newly formed 10th February Committee.

 

Between 1943 and 1945 thousands of Italians living in Trieste, Gorizia and the Istrian peninsula were tortured, shot or pushed to their deaths in rocky chasms by communists determined to cleanse Yugoslavia of its Italian population. Some were sympathisers of Benito Mussolini's fascist regime in Italy. Others were innocent civilians. They were left, some still alive to rot in natural ditches known in Italian as foibe

 

About 300,000 Italians had been forced to flee the area by 1947 and estimates of the number killed vary between 6,000 and 15,000.

 

After the war the massacres were swept under the political carpet as Italy sought to heal its wartime wounds.

 

Most of the so-called foibe killings have never been properly investigated. Italian history books have traditionally portrayed communist partisans as national heroes who fought to free the country from fascism. Italian communists and today's hard left have long tried to bury the matter, out of embarrassment.

 

But the centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi, who personally considers communists a lingering threat to Italy, is determined to make sure that as many Italians as possible are aware of this dark part of the country's past.

 

In the run up to the memorial day, more than 10 million people watched the first film on the subject, II Cuore nel Pozzo (Heart in the ditch) which cost the state television service RAI €4.5m (£3.09m) to produce.

 

The film shows the atrocities through the eyes of a group of children who manage to escape, though the priest accompanying them is shot. "If we look back to the 20th century we see pages of history we’d prefer to forget” Mr Berlusconi said in advance of yesterday's events. "But we cannot and should not forget."

 

The communications minister, Maurizio Gasparri, a member of the National Alliance, which traces its roots back to Mussolini's fascist party, said: "We must pull from this abyss of lies a truth hidden by the imposition of a cultural bias." The party has openly supported II Cuore nel Pozzo, which had its premiere in a conference hall built for Mussolini outside Rome, calling it "a historic event".

 

While the Italian hard-left has long tried to bury this part of the country's history, centre left politicians have agreed that it is time to face up to the past

 

Last week the mayor of Rime, Walter Veltroni, went to the killing grounds to pay homage to the dead.  "The Holocaust was a tragedy without equal, but it

was not the only tragedy of the 20th century," he said. "What is certain is what I have seen here is witness to a guilty silence; even involving the left, the communists."

 

But critics argue that the film fails to address all sides of the story. The region around Trieste and the Istrian peninsula had come under Italian control after the First World War and had been brutally  "Italianised" by Mussolini's

henchmen.

 

The Slovenian foreign minister, Ivo Vajgl, criticised the making of the film last year as an "offence and provocation"  to the Slovenian people.

                                                                                             guardian.co.uk/italy               

 

 

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

2.1 Slide shows of Special London Tour

Godbole conducted one show in a Junior College in Kalyan (Hindusthan) on

3 January 2006.

 

2.2 Photo addition

Mrs Mohini Kelkar of Richmond, Surrey had been kind enough to visit the public cemetery in Richmond and send photos of tombstone on Sir Curzon Wyllie who was short dead by Madanlal Dhingra in 1909.

 

2.3 Tours

* In May 2006, Dr Agarkar of Kalyan had led a group of boys and girls below the age of 18 from Hindusthan. They stayed at Oxford, Cambridge and London. On 14 May Godbole conducted a Special Tour for 14 of them.

 

* Computer Engineers have problem attending arranged tours. They are suddenly called to work at weekends. Shree Bagul of Ipswitch therefore requested for a special tour for him and his wife. Godbole obliged on 3 June 2006. Mr and Mrs Deshpande of Chiplun (Maharashtra) also joined.

[Note – Public toilets maintained by the Westminster City Council were free until recently. These are now operated by a private company and there is a charge of 50p per person.]

 

* Some managers of Godrej (Mumbai) have expressed interest in attending such a tour, when they come to London.

 

 

3. BEHAVIOUR OF CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS TODAY

The Christians

3.1.1 Vatican hit by new row over war role

 

In The Guardian of 29 December 2004 we found the following article by John Hooper in Rome

 

Pope kept Jewish families apart

The Vatican secretly issued instructions to the Catholic Church in France not to return Jewish children to their families after the Second World War, it emerged yesterday.

 

The children were entrusted to the church's care to save them from the death camps. But if the parents survived the war and came forward to reclaim their sons or daughters, the children were only to be returned, "provided [they]

have not received baptism", the Vatican Ordered.

 

The instructions, contained in a letter dated October 20 1946, were sent by the Holy Office, the Vatican department responsible for church discipline, to the future Pope John XXIII, Angelo Roncalli, who at that time was the Holy See's envoy in Paris. The letter was published yesterday by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

The letter ends with 'the words: "Please note that this decision has been approved by the Holy Father." This may well have been a warning to the

then Monsignor Roncalli, who, in his previous job as the pope's nuncio, or ambassador, in Istanbul, was suspected by some in the Vatican of an

excessively pro-Jewish outlook.

The letter deals a new and crushing blow to the reputation of the wartime pope, Pius XII.

 

Research for a film released two years ago by the documentary maker Aviva Slesin concluded that fewer than 10% of the 1.5 million Jewish children living in Europe in 1939 survived the conflict. In a desperate attempt to save their

sons and daughters, many parents made arrangements with Christian couples or left them in orphanages.

 

The Vatican's letter indicates that Pope Pius wanted both to obstruct and minimise the return of those children who had been put in the church's

care. "Children who have been baptised may not be entrusted to institutions that are not in a position to guarantee them a Christian upbringing," it said.

The position with regard to un-baptised Jewish children was more complicated.

 

The Vatican's officials ruled that those who had lost their parents, ought not to be entrusted to "persons who have no rights over them". Only where the parents had re-emerged to claim their children was it permissible for them to be handed back, and even then only if they had not been christened.

 

The revelation represents a fresh setback for the cause of Pius XII's canonisation. The present Pope is known to have wanted to beatify his predecessor as a first step towards declaring him a saint. But the process was halted by a host of articles, books and films questioning Pius XII's failure to speak out against Nazism, and, in particular, the Holocaust.

 

His record is still a matter of heated dispute and the controversy surrounding him is unlikely to be resolved until the Vatican opens its wartime archives.

 

Note – that is the inhumane character of the Roman Catholic Church today. They just want to increase their numbers by hook or crook.

 

3.1.2 Boy barred from church school over late baptism

On May 8, 2004 David Sapstead reported for the Daily Telegraph

A FIVE-year-oId boy, whose parents are practising Roman Catholics, has been refused a place at his local Catholic school because he was not baptised early enough.

 

The parents of Alexander Payne find that ironic because he is a descendant of an English saint, John Almond, who was hanged for his Catholic beliefs 400 years ago.

 

His parents, who say they have attended mass in the parish for eight years, have fought for a year to get him into St Bernadette's RC primary school in Brighton, six doors from their home.

 

According to his parents, Alexander was disqualified because he was not baptised until after the age of two.

 

The school, which declines publicly to discuss the dispute, only has room for 30 new entrants each year and there is .a huge demand for places.

 

Chris Payne, 39, a telecoms worker, said: "The school maintains it has introduced this rule to limit the number of children whose parents only had them baptised to get them into me school. This means I have to take my son to a Catholic school on the other side of town. It's particularly galling that I see parents outside every morning who I don’t see regularly in church."

He said Alexander's baptism was delayed because of their priest's holidays and work and family commitments.

 

They have appealed unsuccessfully to the governors, the local authority, the education authority, the education ombudsman and the Church.

 

 

3.2 Horror in Darfur (Sudan)

Despite so much publicity of horrors in Darfur, no one seems to be doing anything about it. The reason? It is the Arab Muslims who are committing atrocities on Africans.

 

On 20 July 2004Jeevan Vasagar and Ewen MacAskill from Nairobi reported for The Guardian

Arab women singers complicit in rape, says Amnesty report.

While African women in Darfur were being raped by the Janjaweed militiamen, Arab women stood nearby and sang for joy, according to an Amnesty International report published yesterday. The songs of the Hakama, or the “Janjaweed women” as the refugees call them, encouraged the atrocities committed by the militiamen.

 

The women singers stirred up racial hatred against black civilians during attacks on villages in Darfur and celebrated the humiliation of their enemies, the human rights group said.“ [They] appear to be the communicators during the attacks. They are reportedly not actively involved in attacks on people, but participate in acts of looting.”

 

Amnesty International collected several testimonies mentioning the presence of Hakama while women were raped by the Janjaweed. The report said, “Hakama appear to have directly harassed the women (who were) assaulted and verbally abused them.”

During an attack on the village of Disa in June last year, Arab women accompanied the attackers and sang songs praising the government and scorning the black villagers. According to an African chief quoted in the report, the singers said; “The blood of the blacks runs like water we take their goods and we chase them from our area and our cattle will be in their land. The power of [Sudanese president Omer Hassan] al-Bashir belongs to the Arabs and we will kill you until the end, you blacks, we have killed your God.”

The chief said that the Arab women also racially insulted women from village; “You are gorillas, you are black, and you are badly dressed.”

 

The Janjaweed have abducted women for use as sex slaves, in some cases breaking their limbs to prevent them escaping, as well as carrying out rapes in their home villages, the report said.

 

The militiamen “are happy when they rape. They sing when they rape. and they tell that we are just slaves and that they can do with us how they wish.” a 37-year-old victim, identified as saying in the report, which was based on more than 100 testimonies from women in the refugee camps in neighbouring Chad.

Pollyanna Truscott, Amnesty International’s Darfur crisis co-ordinator, said the rape was part of systematic dehumanisation of women. ”It is done to inflict fear, to force them to leave their communities. It also humiliates the men in their communities.”

 

The UN estimates that up to 30,000 people have been killed in Darfur, and more than 1 million have been forced to flee their homes. Peace talks between the Sudanese government and two rebel movements broke down on Saturday when the rebel groups walked out, saying the government must first disarm the Janjawaeed.

 

Another human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, today published alleged Sudanese government documents showing that it was much more closely involved with the Janjaweed than it has so far admitted. The documents, which Human Rights Watch said it had obtained from the civilian administration in Darfur and are dated February and March this year, call for “provisions and ammunitions” to be delivered to known Janjaweed militia leaders, camps and “loyalist tribes.” One document orders all security units in the area to tolerate the activities of Mussa Hilal, the alleged Janjaweed leader in north Darfur interviewed by The Guardian last week.

 

Peter Takirambudde, the executive director of Human Rights Watch’s African division said; “These documents show that militia activity has not just been specifically supported by Sudanese government officials.” The official government line is that it did not arm or support the Janjaweed, though its presence was useful in helping to combat rebels in Darfur

 

>> Questions and comments-

(1) Behaviour of Muslim women is nothing new. Savarkar had pointed this out in his writings in the 1930s, but we regarded him as a Hindu extremist.

(2) Muslims and Christians are such wonderful people. So, why are they killing each other in the 21st century?

(3) Arab Muslims have NOT spared African Muslim women. So, what happened to Islamic brotherhood of man? It is simply a mirage.

 

 

4.Research findings

 

4.1 Tsunami reveals lost Indian city

On 28 February 2005, Metro, the London based paper reported on page 13 –

Divers have found more evidence of an ancient Indian port revealed by December’s (2004) tsunami. Man-made stone structures were seen on the seabed off the coast of Tamilnadu. They could be part of the city of Mahabalipuram, which legend says was so beautiful that the gods sent a flood, which engulfed six of its seven temples. Other relics were revealed when the waves washed away sand

 

Other ancient cities discovered.

On 11 April 2002 the same paper had reported 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 were 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 the 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 details of some other cities recently discovered.

(1) December 2001

Remains of 6,000-year-old, eight square mile city discovered in the

Guanahacabibes Peninsula off the coast of Cuba. Huge granite pyramids found 2,200ft 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 2000

1,000 -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-lncan road and a 2,300ft 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.

 

>> Note - Our ancient religious texts have stated that the earth was flooded and almost all life was wiped out. Afterwards, life appeared again. This happened not just once but several times. We therefore find such ancient cities being discovered all over the world. Is it not time we looked at our religious texts in new light?

 

 

4.2 Did Jesus die on cross?

On 8 September 2004, BBC4 (TV) broadcasted a programme at 21:45 hrs entitled Did Jesus die (on cross)?

The brief in the Evening Standard reads –

Questions have been raised about the historic accuracy of the biblical account of Jesus’s death since it was written, with many modern theologians seeing the resurrection as a poetic metaphor rather than a historical account.

 

This documentary investigates the suggestion that Jesus did not die on the cross – apparently evidence shows that it was possible for a person to survive a first-century crucifixion. But, if he didn’t die, what happened to him? Among the theories explored is the legend that he escaped to the South of France with Mary Magdalene or fled to India where he studied Buddhism.

 

>> Our comments - We mentioned research work on Jesus of Babarao Savarkar (elder brother of Veer Savarkar) in our newsletter some 15 years ago. This is what he said in 1942 –

 

(1) Where was Jesus from the age of 12 to 30? Bible does not give any answer. In 1894 came a shocking news. Notovich Nikolai a Russian scholar

had carried out extensive research on the subject and came to the conclusion that Jesus was in Hindusthan and studied under guidance of Vedic and Buddhist scholars. He even went to Tibet for enlightenment. His works were translated from Russian into English by Mr J H Connelly and Mr L Landsberg.

Publisher was G W Dillingham of New York.

 

(2) Jesus did not die on the Cross. He was presumed to be dead, was taken down from the cross, given massage and herbal medicine. When he was revived he was taken to a secret location and from there he escaped to Kashmir and lived there till his death.

Full details are given in the book The crucifixion by an eye-witness published in 1907. A copy exists in British Library. In 1925, another edition was published by Arya Samaj in 1925 (Swami Dayanand Centenary series No. 8)

 

Babarao’s research is of considerable importance and one needs to study above two reference books.

 

4.3 Illegitimate children on the British Aristocracy

Adam Sherwin wrote an important article in the Times of 24 May 1999. He says –

Recognition at last for illegitimate aristocrats

Skeletons will tumble out of aristocratic cupboards when the first Burke’s Peerage for 30 years hits the bookshelves today. The illegitimate children of the great but not-so-good are included for the first time in the publication’s 173-year history. With an estimated 10,000 of the 60,000 strong “old aristocracy” born “on the wrong side of the sheets,” the 106th edition of Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage has finally acknowledged the illegitimate and those descended from children born out of wedlock.

 

The change of heart means that Viscount Drumlanrig, son of 12th Marquess of Queensberry, can take his place in the pages. He was born in 1967, two years before his father, the Marquess of Queensberry, married his mother.

…. Lady Cosima Somerset, once a close friend of Diana, Princes of Wales, has recognised her claim to be the illegitimate daughter of Robin Douglas-Home, nephew of the former Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

 

… Harold Brooks-Baker, the American publishing director of Burke’s Peerage, said: “The aristocracy have never hidden their illegitimate children from the society. They are expected to have them. It is only the middle classes who attached the stigma of disgrace.”

 

Our comments - The truth about the British society is revealed at last. One note of clarification. ‘Illegitimate child’ means a child born to parents who are living together without getting married, but it also means children of mistresses.

British Aristocracy could get away with immorality because of their power and position. The poor could not afford morality. It was only the middle classes who were worried about morality. One can imagine what the social conditions were like in 18th and 19th century Britain.

 

It is time to reflect at our history and learn the true reason why we lost to the British. It certainly had nothing to do with morality.

 

 

4.4 Time to read the bible again.

Three interesting letters appeared in the Times of 18 August 2004.

 

Old Testament and 'fundamentalism'

 

From Mr Steven Carr

Sir.  Dr Jonathan Sacks  (Register August 14) writes that "the God of

Abraham is a God of love, not war"

   Joshua xi, 20 says

For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

 

    1 Samuel xv, 17-18 says:

The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites;

make war on them until you have wiped them out

    Is that really the work of a God of love?

 

Yours sincerely,

STEVEN CARR,

3 Bowness Avenue,

Prenton, Birkenhead CH43 OSD

stevencarrwork@hotmail.com

August 14.

 

From Mr Neil Henriksen

Sir, Usually I enjoy Jonathan Sachs's rabbinical whimsy but patent self-

contradictions must not go unnoticed.

He is selective in defence of religion, citing forgiveness, humility, compassion, though these are virtues espoused by all enlightened free-thinkers. And God of the Old Testament never passed up an opportunity to wreak fearful revenge.    

 

Fundamentalists won't agree that “any system of belief can go wrong." By contrast, scientific “laws” are provisional, continually open to testing and

Revue. As for forgiveness, it took three and a half centuries for a Pope to

"forgive” Galileo.

 

Yours sincerely,

NEIL HENRIKSEN,

16 Bedford Loan,

Edinburgh, EH13 OAX.

neil.henriksen@virgin.net

August 14.

 

From Mr Ralph Blumenau

Sir; I am glad that the Chief Rabbi is trying to rescue the meaning of

"fundamentalism" from abuse. We all have, or should have, fundamental beliefs. Unfortunately the word "fundamentalism was originally coined for the belief that every word of a sacred text is divinely inspired and is therefore to be taken as the literal truth. For this idea I think we should use "literalism"

  Then we should use "fanaticism" to describe the attempt to impose either

one’s fundamental beliefs, or one's literal interpretation of a religious text

on others by force.

 

Yours faithfully,

RALPH BLUMENAU,

111 Princes House,

50 Kensington Park Road, W11 3BW

rkblumenau@aol.com

August 14.

 

4.5 How Women were treated in British society.

Despite our association with Britain for 200 years, we know very little about Social History of Britain, especially the position of British women.

 

On 29 April 2005 The Evening Standard reported on page 19

On this day in 1884

 

OXFORD University opened its doors to women allowing them to attend lectures and take exams. But the university resisted pressure to actually award women degrees for another 36 years, until 1920. The move came amid growing pressure on the university to widen its admission policy,

 

People who did not belong to the Church of England had only been

accepted 30 years earlier, in 1854 and as a result of The University Act.

The University had instituted special exams for women in 1875, but in1884 these were abolished, when Oxford opened the "Honour Moderations" and the "Final Honour Schools of Mathematics, Natural Science and Modern History" to " women.

By 1894 the remaining courses had also been thrown open to women.

 

Note – Once again, Marathas losing to the forces of the English East India Company in 1818 had nothing to do with the status of women in our society. The English had superior military machinery and were more advanced in Physical sciences than us. The earlier we realise the better.

 

4.6 British Historians, Muslims and Tragedy of India

We mentioned this research paper of Godbole in our newsletter 41 of 16 February 2004. The work is now complete. It is in 2 parts.

First part shows how the Muslim rulers and their ruling class (e.g. Governors, Generals, Officers) were FOREIGNERS who utterly despised NATIVE Indian Muslims. It also deals with how the British rulers put into minds of Muslims that they (Indian Muslims) were the rulers before British.

Second part deals with the disastrous consequences of the above falsified Indian history.

It is surprisingly that, today even staunch Hindus also have the foolish concept that Hindusthan was ruled by Muslims for 1,000 years and that until the British period, Indian Muslims were the rulers.

The research can be sent to you by E Mail.

 

4.7 Taj Mahal : Simple Analysis of a Great Deception

Above research booklet by Godbole was published in April 1986. Much more information has come to light since then. He is therefore updating this work.

Would you like to receive a copy?