The Hindu
NEW DELHI, November 26, 2010
Focus on Indian civilisation
Staff Reporter
Focussing on creating awareness in civil society about recent archaeological and historical researches and to promote understanding and relevance of Indian civilization in modern times, a seminar, “How deep are the roots of Indian civilization? An archaeological and historical perspective” was inaugurated by Ministry of Culture Secretary Jawahar Sircar here on Thursday. Organised by Draupadi Trust in collaboration with knowledge partners Archaeological Survey of India and Indian Archaeological Society and hosted by the Vivekananda International Foundation, the three-day-long seminar will include presentations by renowned scholars and archaeologists from India and abroad.
Mr. Sircar stressed the importance of a “serious study on the subject of antiquity of Indian civilisation” and urged scholars to base their research on rational, not emotional basis. He inaugurated an exhibition- “Draupadi: Shashakt- Rupa Rupeshwari”- depicting the life of Draupadi as a woman of substance.
Delivering the keynote address, former ASI Director-General Prof. B. B. Lal spoke about “postulates [that] have been distorting our vision of India's past”. Among these is the belief that the Vedas are no older than 1200 B.C. and that Vedic people were nomads. Recent excavations at sites in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat and a fresh study of Vedic texts, he said, have proved that most of these postulates are “ill- founded.”
According to Prof. Lal, these excavations proved that the Rigveda is older than 2,000 BC and people of this civilisation were not nomads. Quashing the “Aryan invasion theory” he said that the Harappan civilisation did not become extinct, and C-14 dating procedures proved that Harappan and Vedic people were indigenous, not invaders or migrants.
Thursday's session focussed on the life and practices of Harappan and Vedic civilisations with presentations on scientific findings of the drainage system in north-west India with regard to river Saraswati by Central Arid Zone Research Institute's Dr. J. R. Sharma and Indian Space Research Organisation scientist Dr. Bidyut Bhadra; the geographic identification and significance of Sapta Sindhu by California State University Professor Dr. Shiva Bajpai; Harappan town planning and water harvesting by former ASI Joint Director-General Dr. R. S. Bisht; continuum in town planning and metrology in Harappan in classical India by Coimbatore scholar Dr. Michel Danino and a comparative study of the middle Asian intercultural space and the Indus civilisation by University of Bologne (Italy) Professor Maurizio Tosi. Also present was Shah Abdul Latif University (Pakistan) Vice-Chancellor Dr. Nilofar Shaikh.
Draupadi Trust Chairperson Neera Misra spoke about the need for a “holistic approach to development” and knowledge of one's civilisation being an important part of development of a nation
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November 29, 2010
Militarised Yoga by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA
Surya Namaskar - Youtube video by HSS USA begins by salutations to Ganesh, saraswati and to Golwalkar the founder of Hindutva
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXTpTRuPiPQ
[... Yoga was adopted by the Hindu right at the beginning of the 20th century -- RSS camps still often begin with an odd militaristic version of Surya Namaskar, e.g.(for a particularly ugly militaristic example, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXTpTRuPiPQ)
On the militarization of yoga by the Hindu right See e.g. Joseph Alter, "Yoga Shivir: Performativity and the Study of Modern Yoga," in Singleton and Byrne, _Yoga in the Modern World_ (2008).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXTpTRuPiPQ
[... Yoga was adopted by the Hindu right at the beginning of the 20th century -- RSS camps still often begin with an odd militaristic version of Surya Namaskar, e.g.(for a particularly ugly militaristic example, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXTpTRuPiPQ)
On the militarization of yoga by the Hindu right See e.g. Joseph Alter, "Yoga Shivir: Performativity and the Study of Modern Yoga," in Singleton and Byrne, _Yoga in the Modern World_ (2008).
November 28, 2010
USA: Hinduism peddlers push for ownership of yoga / and others try to give it s religious twist
The New York Times
Published: November 27, 2010
Hindu Group Stirs a Debate Over Yoga’s Soul
“Nobody owns yoga,” says Debbie Desmond, an instructor.
By PAUL VITELLO
Yoga is practiced by about 15 million people in the United States, for reasons almost as numerous — from the physical benefits mapped in brain scans to the less tangible rewards that New Age journals call spiritual centering. Religion, for the most part, has nothing to do with it.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
A yoga class being held at Saraswathi Hall in Flushing, Queens, across the street from Hindu Temple Society of North America.
But a group of Indian-Americans has ignited a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of yoga by mounting a campaign to acquaint Westerners with the faith that it says underlies every single yoga style followed in gyms, ashrams and spas: Hinduism.
The campaign, labeled “Take Back Yoga,” does not ask yoga devotees to become Hindu, or instructors to teach more about Hinduism. The small but increasingly influential group behind it, the Hindu American Foundation, suggests only that people become more aware of yoga’s debt to the faith’s ancient traditions.
That suggestion, modest though it may seem, has drawn a flurry of strong reactions from figures far apart on the religious spectrum. Dr. Deepak Chopra, the New Age writer, has dismissed the campaign as a jumble of faulty history and Hindu nationalism. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has said he agrees that yoga is Hindu — and cited that as evidence that the practice imperiled the souls of Christians who engage in it.
The question at the core of the debate — who owns yoga? — has become an enduring topic of chatter in yoga Web forums, Hindu American newspapers and journals catering to the many consumers of what is now a multibillion-dollar yoga industry.
In June, it even prompted the Indian government to begin making digital copies of ancient drawings showing the provenance of more than 4,000 yoga poses, to discourage further claims by entrepreneurs like Bikram Choudhury, an Indian-born yoga instructor to the stars who is based in Los Angeles. Mr. Choudhury nettled Indian officials in 2007 when he copyrighted his personal style of 26 yoga poses as “Bikram Yoga.”
Organizers of the Take Back Yoga effort point out that the philosophy of yoga was first described in Hinduism’s seminal texts and remains at the core of Hindu teaching. Yet, because the religion has been stereotyped in the West as a polytheistic faith of “castes, cows and curry,” they say, most Americans prefer to see yoga as the legacy of a more timeless, spiritual “Indian wisdom.”
“In a way,” said Dr. Aseem Shukla, the foundation’s co-founder, “our issue is that yoga has thrived, but Hinduism has lost control of the brand.”
For many practitioners, including Debbie Desmond, 27, a yoga instructor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the talk of branding and ownership is bewildering.
“Nobody owns yoga,” she said, sitting cross-legged in her studio, Namaste Yoga, and tilting her head as if the notion sketched an impossible yoga position she had never seen. “Yoga is not a religion. It is a way of life, a method of becoming. We were taught that the roots of yoga go back further than Hinduism itself.”
Like Dr. Chopra and some religious historians, Ms. Desmond believes that yoga originated in the Vedic culture of Indo-Europeans who settled in India in the third millennium B.C., long before the tradition now called Hinduism emerged. Other historians trace the first written description of yoga to the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred Hindu scripture believed to have been written between the fifth and second centuries B.C.
The effort to “take back” yoga began quietly enough, with a scholarly essay posted in January on the Web site of the Hindu American Foundation, a Minneapolis-based group that promotes human rights for Hindu minorities worldwide. The essay lamented a perceived snub in modern yoga culture, saying that yoga magazines and studios had assiduously decoupled the practice “from the Hinduism that gave forth this immense contribution to humanity.”
Dr. Shukla put a sharper point on his case a few months later in a column on the On Faith blog of The Washington Post. Hinduism, he wrote, had become a victim of “overt intellectual property theft,” made possible by generations of Hindu yoga teachers who had “offered up a religion’s spiritual wealth at the altar of crass commercialism.”
That drew the attention of Dr. Chopra, an Indian-American who has done much to popularize Indian traditions like alternative medicine and yoga. He posted a reply saying that Hinduism was too “tribal” and “self-enclosed” to claim ownership of yoga.
The fight went viral — or as viral as things can get in a narrow Web corridor frequented by yoga enthusiasts, Hindu Americans and religion scholars.
Loriliai Biernacki, a professor of Indian religions at the University of Colorado, said the debate had raised important issues about a spectrum of Hindu concepts permeating American culture, including meditation, belief in karma and reincarnation, and even cremation.
“All these ideas are Hindu in origin, and they are spreading,” she said. “But they are doing it in a way that leaves behind the proper name, the box that classifies them as ‘Hinduism.’ ”
The debate has also secured the standing of the Hindu American Foundation as the pre-eminent voice for the country’s two million Hindus, said Diana L. Eck, a professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard. Other groups represent Indian-Americans’ interests in business and politics, but the foundation has emerged as “the first major national advocacy group looking at Hindu identity,” she said.
Dr. Shukla said reaction to the yoga campaign had far exceeded his expectations.
“We started this, really, for our kids,” said Dr. Shukla, a urologist and a second-generation Indian-American. “When our kids go to school and say they are Hindu, nobody says, ‘Oh, yeah, Hindus gave the world yoga.’ They say, ‘What caste are you?’ Or ‘Do you pray to a monkey god?’ Because that’s all Americans know about Hinduism.”
With its tiny budget, the foundation has pressed its campaign largely by generating buzz through letters and Web postings to academic journals and yoga magazines. The September issue of Yoga Journal, which has the largest circulation in the field, alluded to the campaign, if fleetingly, in an article calling yoga’s “true history a mystery.”
The effort has been received most favorably by Indian-American community leaders like Dr. Uma V. Mysorekar, the president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, in Flushing, Queens, which helps groups across the country build temples.
A naturalized immigrant, she said Take Back Yoga represented a coming-of-age for Indians in the United States. “My generation was too busy establishing itself in business and the professions,” she said. “Now, the second and third generation is looking around and finding its voice, saying, ‘Our civilization has made contributions to the world, and these should be acknowledged.’ ”
In the basement of the society’s Ganesha Temple, an hourlong yoga class ended one recent Sunday morning with a long exhalation of the sacred syllable “om.” Via the lung power of 60 students, it sounded as deeply as a blast from the organ at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
After the session, which began and concluded with Hindu prayers, many students said they were practicing Hindus and in complete sympathy with the yoga campaign.
Not all were, though. Shweta Parmar, 35, a community organizer and project director for a health and meditation group, said she had grown up in a Hindu household. “Yoga is part of the tradition I come from,” she said.
But is yoga specifically Hindu? She paused to ponder. “My parents are Hindu,” she said. But in matters of yoga, “I don’t use that term.”
A version of this article appeared in print on November 28, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.
------
See Also
The New York Times
November 27, 2010, 7:30 pm
Stretch | Bending With a Holy Twist
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Silva Pillitteri attends yoga at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan.Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times Silva Pillitteri attends yoga at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan.
Amy Russell has taught Christian yoga for three years.Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times Amy Russell has taught Christian yoga for three years.
I SAT on my mat inside the parish center at St. Paul the Apostle, a Roman Catholic church just around the corner from Columbus Circle, and began the evening’s yoga class, not with a long “om” but with the simple words of St. Francis of Assisi.
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith.”
This was Christian yoga, where asanas, or poses, are taught with a twist of Jesus, and the Holy Trinity keeps you company. The teacher, Amy Russell, encouraged the class to quietly tap into our compassion, as St. Francis did.
“Can you find the peace in whatever movement you are in?” she asked. We moved into warrior pose, with our feet rooted firmly to the floor, and Ms. Russell asked, “Can you find the strength of being grounded in Christ through the center of your body?”
Nobody seems to know how many Christians practice yoga, or how many practice it in a Christian way, but the number of teachers, retreats, classes and DVDs geared toward Christians appear to be growing. Holy Yoga, which was founded by Brooke Boon in 2003 after she became a Christian, has released a series of DVDs and has trained 300 teachers. The Rev. Tom Ryan, one of the first to combine Christianity with yoga, has a network, Christians Practicing Yoga, that has trained teachers in spirituality based yoga techniques.
Beth O’Mara in a prayer posture.Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times Beth O’Mara in a prayer posture.
But in recent weeks, an online brouhaha has erupted over whether Christianity and yoga, which is broadly associated with Hinduism, belong together. R. Albert Mohler Jr., a prominent evangelical leader, warned on his blog in September that the two were incompatible. “Christians are not called to empty the mind or to see the human body as a means of connecting to and coming to know the divine,” he said. “Believers are called to meditate upon the word of God.”
The press picked up on his words last month, and a furor ensued across the religious spectrum. Most of those who posted comments online seemed to disagree. The back-and-forth took another turn when the pastor of a Seattle megachurch called yoga “demonic.”
The ministers say they are worried that the Sanskrit chants and Hindu texts sometimes used in yoga classes will lead followers away from Jesus. But Christians who practice yoga say the opposite is true.
“One of the things that most Christians and most people don’t get is that yoga is not a religion,” Ms. Russell said.
“It does not belong to Hinduism anymore than it belongs to Christianity,” she said, adding that it “transcends religion.”
Some Christian yogis see the practice as intensifying their relationship with Jesus. Yoga can enhance meditation, gratitude and selflessness, making it easier to pray. Many yoga classes in New York do not linger on the Sanskrit chants and texts. But even if they did, there is a kind of universality to the teachings.
The Rev. Anthony Randazzo, pastor at Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church in North Caldwell, N.J., became a priest in 1986 and started yoga 10 years later. We’re talking serious yoga: hot vinyasa, Jivamukti, Bikram. (He recently attended the Bob Marley flow at Garden State Yoga in Bloomfield.) He brings his faith with him and powers it up.
“I am more deeply rooted in the Christian faith than ever,” said Father Randazzo, 50.
The Vatican frowns on this. In 1989, it issued a document stating that the practice of Eastern traditions like yoga “can degenerate into a cult of the body.” But Father Randazzo respectfully disagrees.
“I have been in many places with Sanskrit chants, and it has never led me to any other place than Christ,” he said. “It is a spiritual experience.”
He also teaches yoga at his church and in his community, and when he does, he often focuses on the Beatitudes — the blessings from Jesus. An entire class can be woven with prayers. “If yoga is giving me a sense of peace,” he said, “then I am able to somehow help people come to their own inner peace.”
As I leaned my own body into a triangle pose in Ms. Russell’s class at St. Paul’s, I harbored no doubts about the power of yoga to deepen faith: the peace, the discipline, even the occasional suffering help make room for gratitude, compassion and humility. It’s not just your body that feels lighter. It’s your soul.
Published: November 27, 2010
Hindu Group Stirs a Debate Over Yoga’s Soul
“Nobody owns yoga,” says Debbie Desmond, an instructor.
By PAUL VITELLO
Yoga is practiced by about 15 million people in the United States, for reasons almost as numerous — from the physical benefits mapped in brain scans to the less tangible rewards that New Age journals call spiritual centering. Religion, for the most part, has nothing to do with it.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
A yoga class being held at Saraswathi Hall in Flushing, Queens, across the street from Hindu Temple Society of North America.
But a group of Indian-Americans has ignited a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of yoga by mounting a campaign to acquaint Westerners with the faith that it says underlies every single yoga style followed in gyms, ashrams and spas: Hinduism.
The campaign, labeled “Take Back Yoga,” does not ask yoga devotees to become Hindu, or instructors to teach more about Hinduism. The small but increasingly influential group behind it, the Hindu American Foundation, suggests only that people become more aware of yoga’s debt to the faith’s ancient traditions.
That suggestion, modest though it may seem, has drawn a flurry of strong reactions from figures far apart on the religious spectrum. Dr. Deepak Chopra, the New Age writer, has dismissed the campaign as a jumble of faulty history and Hindu nationalism. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has said he agrees that yoga is Hindu — and cited that as evidence that the practice imperiled the souls of Christians who engage in it.
The question at the core of the debate — who owns yoga? — has become an enduring topic of chatter in yoga Web forums, Hindu American newspapers and journals catering to the many consumers of what is now a multibillion-dollar yoga industry.
In June, it even prompted the Indian government to begin making digital copies of ancient drawings showing the provenance of more than 4,000 yoga poses, to discourage further claims by entrepreneurs like Bikram Choudhury, an Indian-born yoga instructor to the stars who is based in Los Angeles. Mr. Choudhury nettled Indian officials in 2007 when he copyrighted his personal style of 26 yoga poses as “Bikram Yoga.”
Organizers of the Take Back Yoga effort point out that the philosophy of yoga was first described in Hinduism’s seminal texts and remains at the core of Hindu teaching. Yet, because the religion has been stereotyped in the West as a polytheistic faith of “castes, cows and curry,” they say, most Americans prefer to see yoga as the legacy of a more timeless, spiritual “Indian wisdom.”
“In a way,” said Dr. Aseem Shukla, the foundation’s co-founder, “our issue is that yoga has thrived, but Hinduism has lost control of the brand.”
For many practitioners, including Debbie Desmond, 27, a yoga instructor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the talk of branding and ownership is bewildering.
“Nobody owns yoga,” she said, sitting cross-legged in her studio, Namaste Yoga, and tilting her head as if the notion sketched an impossible yoga position she had never seen. “Yoga is not a religion. It is a way of life, a method of becoming. We were taught that the roots of yoga go back further than Hinduism itself.”
Like Dr. Chopra and some religious historians, Ms. Desmond believes that yoga originated in the Vedic culture of Indo-Europeans who settled in India in the third millennium B.C., long before the tradition now called Hinduism emerged. Other historians trace the first written description of yoga to the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred Hindu scripture believed to have been written between the fifth and second centuries B.C.
The effort to “take back” yoga began quietly enough, with a scholarly essay posted in January on the Web site of the Hindu American Foundation, a Minneapolis-based group that promotes human rights for Hindu minorities worldwide. The essay lamented a perceived snub in modern yoga culture, saying that yoga magazines and studios had assiduously decoupled the practice “from the Hinduism that gave forth this immense contribution to humanity.”
Dr. Shukla put a sharper point on his case a few months later in a column on the On Faith blog of The Washington Post. Hinduism, he wrote, had become a victim of “overt intellectual property theft,” made possible by generations of Hindu yoga teachers who had “offered up a religion’s spiritual wealth at the altar of crass commercialism.”
That drew the attention of Dr. Chopra, an Indian-American who has done much to popularize Indian traditions like alternative medicine and yoga. He posted a reply saying that Hinduism was too “tribal” and “self-enclosed” to claim ownership of yoga.
The fight went viral — or as viral as things can get in a narrow Web corridor frequented by yoga enthusiasts, Hindu Americans and religion scholars.
Loriliai Biernacki, a professor of Indian religions at the University of Colorado, said the debate had raised important issues about a spectrum of Hindu concepts permeating American culture, including meditation, belief in karma and reincarnation, and even cremation.
“All these ideas are Hindu in origin, and they are spreading,” she said. “But they are doing it in a way that leaves behind the proper name, the box that classifies them as ‘Hinduism.’ ”
The debate has also secured the standing of the Hindu American Foundation as the pre-eminent voice for the country’s two million Hindus, said Diana L. Eck, a professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard. Other groups represent Indian-Americans’ interests in business and politics, but the foundation has emerged as “the first major national advocacy group looking at Hindu identity,” she said.
Dr. Shukla said reaction to the yoga campaign had far exceeded his expectations.
“We started this, really, for our kids,” said Dr. Shukla, a urologist and a second-generation Indian-American. “When our kids go to school and say they are Hindu, nobody says, ‘Oh, yeah, Hindus gave the world yoga.’ They say, ‘What caste are you?’ Or ‘Do you pray to a monkey god?’ Because that’s all Americans know about Hinduism.”
With its tiny budget, the foundation has pressed its campaign largely by generating buzz through letters and Web postings to academic journals and yoga magazines. The September issue of Yoga Journal, which has the largest circulation in the field, alluded to the campaign, if fleetingly, in an article calling yoga’s “true history a mystery.”
The effort has been received most favorably by Indian-American community leaders like Dr. Uma V. Mysorekar, the president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, in Flushing, Queens, which helps groups across the country build temples.
A naturalized immigrant, she said Take Back Yoga represented a coming-of-age for Indians in the United States. “My generation was too busy establishing itself in business and the professions,” she said. “Now, the second and third generation is looking around and finding its voice, saying, ‘Our civilization has made contributions to the world, and these should be acknowledged.’ ”
In the basement of the society’s Ganesha Temple, an hourlong yoga class ended one recent Sunday morning with a long exhalation of the sacred syllable “om.” Via the lung power of 60 students, it sounded as deeply as a blast from the organ at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
After the session, which began and concluded with Hindu prayers, many students said they were practicing Hindus and in complete sympathy with the yoga campaign.
Not all were, though. Shweta Parmar, 35, a community organizer and project director for a health and meditation group, said she had grown up in a Hindu household. “Yoga is part of the tradition I come from,” she said.
But is yoga specifically Hindu? She paused to ponder. “My parents are Hindu,” she said. But in matters of yoga, “I don’t use that term.”
A version of this article appeared in print on November 28, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.
------
See Also
The New York Times
November 27, 2010, 7:30 pm
Stretch | Bending With a Holy Twist
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Silva Pillitteri attends yoga at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan.Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times Silva Pillitteri attends yoga at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan.
Amy Russell has taught Christian yoga for three years.Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times Amy Russell has taught Christian yoga for three years.
I SAT on my mat inside the parish center at St. Paul the Apostle, a Roman Catholic church just around the corner from Columbus Circle, and began the evening’s yoga class, not with a long “om” but with the simple words of St. Francis of Assisi.
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith.”
This was Christian yoga, where asanas, or poses, are taught with a twist of Jesus, and the Holy Trinity keeps you company. The teacher, Amy Russell, encouraged the class to quietly tap into our compassion, as St. Francis did.
“Can you find the peace in whatever movement you are in?” she asked. We moved into warrior pose, with our feet rooted firmly to the floor, and Ms. Russell asked, “Can you find the strength of being grounded in Christ through the center of your body?”
Nobody seems to know how many Christians practice yoga, or how many practice it in a Christian way, but the number of teachers, retreats, classes and DVDs geared toward Christians appear to be growing. Holy Yoga, which was founded by Brooke Boon in 2003 after she became a Christian, has released a series of DVDs and has trained 300 teachers. The Rev. Tom Ryan, one of the first to combine Christianity with yoga, has a network, Christians Practicing Yoga, that has trained teachers in spirituality based yoga techniques.
Beth O’Mara in a prayer posture.Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times Beth O’Mara in a prayer posture.
But in recent weeks, an online brouhaha has erupted over whether Christianity and yoga, which is broadly associated with Hinduism, belong together. R. Albert Mohler Jr., a prominent evangelical leader, warned on his blog in September that the two were incompatible. “Christians are not called to empty the mind or to see the human body as a means of connecting to and coming to know the divine,” he said. “Believers are called to meditate upon the word of God.”
The press picked up on his words last month, and a furor ensued across the religious spectrum. Most of those who posted comments online seemed to disagree. The back-and-forth took another turn when the pastor of a Seattle megachurch called yoga “demonic.”
The ministers say they are worried that the Sanskrit chants and Hindu texts sometimes used in yoga classes will lead followers away from Jesus. But Christians who practice yoga say the opposite is true.
“One of the things that most Christians and most people don’t get is that yoga is not a religion,” Ms. Russell said.
“It does not belong to Hinduism anymore than it belongs to Christianity,” she said, adding that it “transcends religion.”
Some Christian yogis see the practice as intensifying their relationship with Jesus. Yoga can enhance meditation, gratitude and selflessness, making it easier to pray. Many yoga classes in New York do not linger on the Sanskrit chants and texts. But even if they did, there is a kind of universality to the teachings.
The Rev. Anthony Randazzo, pastor at Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church in North Caldwell, N.J., became a priest in 1986 and started yoga 10 years later. We’re talking serious yoga: hot vinyasa, Jivamukti, Bikram. (He recently attended the Bob Marley flow at Garden State Yoga in Bloomfield.) He brings his faith with him and powers it up.
“I am more deeply rooted in the Christian faith than ever,” said Father Randazzo, 50.
The Vatican frowns on this. In 1989, it issued a document stating that the practice of Eastern traditions like yoga “can degenerate into a cult of the body.” But Father Randazzo respectfully disagrees.
“I have been in many places with Sanskrit chants, and it has never led me to any other place than Christ,” he said. “It is a spiritual experience.”
He also teaches yoga at his church and in his community, and when he does, he often focuses on the Beatitudes — the blessings from Jesus. An entire class can be woven with prayers. “If yoga is giving me a sense of peace,” he said, “then I am able to somehow help people come to their own inner peace.”
As I leaned my own body into a triangle pose in Ms. Russell’s class at St. Paul’s, I harbored no doubts about the power of yoga to deepen faith: the peace, the discipline, even the occasional suffering help make room for gratitude, compassion and humility. It’s not just your body that feels lighter. It’s your soul.
November 24, 2010
Films must use Mumbai only, not Bombay warms extreme right
The Times of India, Nov 24, 2010
MNS warns Sharmila
by Ambarish Mishra, TNN
MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray has warned Sharmila Tagore that his party will hold her responsible if films which use 'Bombay' instead of 'Mumbai' are okayed for release. Tagore heads the censor board.
"(In 1996), the government (through an Act) changed the city's name from Bombay to Mumbai This is an emotional issue for the people of Maharashtra," Thackeray wrote in a letter to Tagore on Tuesday.
MNS warns Sharmila
by Ambarish Mishra, TNN
MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray has warned Sharmila Tagore that his party will hold her responsible if films which use 'Bombay' instead of 'Mumbai' are okayed for release. Tagore heads the censor board.
"(In 1996), the government (through an Act) changed the city's name from Bombay to Mumbai This is an emotional issue for the people of Maharashtra," Thackeray wrote in a letter to Tagore on Tuesday.
Crumpled Khaki
(Outlook, 29 November 2010)
by Prarthna Gahilote
For the record, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) claims all is well and under control. Ten days after K.S. Sudarshan, a former sarsanghchalak, lashed out at Sonia Gandhi, calling her a CIA agent and accusing her of crimes even more preposterous, the Sangh's office-bearers assert that "the issue is over and the embarrassment from Sudarshanji's remarks long gone". At the Sangh's offices at Jhandewalan in Delhi, pracharaks also say the issue was blown out of proportion and that the RSS has made it clear that Sudarshan's views aren't the official view of the RSS. The BJP, too, has steered clear. Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson Tarun Vijay says, "Whatever political differences we have with her (Sonia Gandhi) must be addressed within an accepted, democratic framework and behaviour." While this position may go down well in Delhi, grassroots workers are disappointed at the Sangh's handling of the issue. Murmurs about how the seniors abandoned Sudarshan are now being heard from pracharaks in the RSS's smaller units in the states. In the Sangh stronghold of Madhya Pradesh, there is disappointment. One Sangh leader says, "We feel let down. The cadre is demoralised. If the Sangh and the central leadership of the BJP can abandon someone like Sudarshanji, what about us?"
The RSS top brass believes the issue will be forgotten. Perhaps, it will be. But insiders say the Sangh is going through a churning, and a crisis of sorts, that goes beyond the Sudarshan incident. "The RSS is an old organisation, but it has new people now. And new people have brought in new trends. The core ideology of the Sangh has been forgotten. Such problems are bound to happen," says Prof Balraj Madhok, a veteran Jan Sanghi. "I am surprised at the Sangh's response to Sudarshanji's remarks. Had it been the RSS of the old times, things would have been dealt with differently." Senior leaders believe that changing times and changing political dynamics are causing a degree of turmoil both in the parivar and the BJP. "The stakes are too high," says one leader. "The RSS is under compulsion to keep the atmosphere stable for the BJP. That is where the dilution has crept in. Sangh leaders today are unsure how much to intervene and where to keep a distance when it comes to political matters." That's perhaps why the Sangh's political arm, the BJP, ends up drumming its own drill. Even though only five months ago, the RSS, in its annual coordination meeting with the BJP leadership, had come down heavily on the party for "lack of mutual communication...and not being an effective opposition", little has changed. The RSS had also conveyed its resentment over the "dilution of the BJP's core ideology in the functioning of the party" to senior party leaders like L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi, who had attended the eight-hour meeting in June. The BJP was also told that senior leaders must resolve differences amicably and the leadership must speak in one voice.
According to RSS insiders, the BJP has done little in the recent past to rein in its leaders in Karnataka on the corruption issue in the state. The problem stems from the need to hold on to power, which is why Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa continues in power despite the Reddy brothers and their mining scams or the land-grabbing by several BJP leaders, including the chief minister's kith and kin. The RSS has voiced its protests - but in token fashion. The Sangh has to constantly keep in mind that the BJP needs to stay in power in the state. This is the reason many in the RSS are fast learning to ignore the prevalent evils in the BJP. "There was a time when corruption was unacceptable," says a source. "Now, workers are told we need to take people along. The RSS is caught in its own trap. In its desire to expand and increase the number of shakhas, it has forgotten to consolidate its base." Discomforting situations like the one in Karnataka have now cropped up in party-governed states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh as well. "Where ideology and the nationalist agenda came first, now personal whims and fancies are taking centrestage. Look at Madhya Pradesh. How do you explain the rise of Prabhat Jha to state party president?" asks a Sangh leader. Jha's rise to power is attributed to his proximity to RSS joint general secretary Suresh Soni.
A former RSS ideologue puts it this way: "Call it the Congressification of the RSS. The emphasis is on power. The cadre is directionless. In states where the BJP is in power, this emphasis on motivation more than ability is more pronounced. So even if there are problems with a certain individual, the RSS chooses to ignore it, taking comfort from the fact that at least it is their own person, and therefore, accessible. The result is there for everyone to see. What is worse is that there is confusion about the basic ideology of the RSS. All RSS-affiliated organisations are not sure what they need to follow." Because of the BJP's compulsions to remain in power, the RSS is forced to be pragmatic and in many ways keep political opportunities in mind. Perhaps that's why Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak, decided to lead protests against the Congress campaign against "Hindu terror". Old-timers like Madhok see it as "inappropriate and unnecessary". "The RSS chief could have done better," he says. "Why should he take to the streets? It does not behove well of the office he holds." In fact, the involvement of senior RSS functionaries like Indresh Kumar in terror attacks has divided the Sangh: one section feels it has to defend such leaders; the other feels it must distance itself from such persons.
In the middle of all this, the RSS is reduced to becoming an administrative network. "When an organisation gets into administrative work, it loses its direction," says a functionary. "That's what is happening to the RSS. Even senior leaders don't believe in active communication. Everything is left to pre-scheduled meetings, decided at the beginning of the year. Complaints from grassroots workers don't find redressal; core activities are being ignored. Unless the RSS fixes that, nothing will change." While course correction on this count is possible, it's another malaise that insiders say is corroding the organisation. "Increasingly, the Sangh has become apologetic about its conduct, not assertive," says a functionary. "This makes it follow the agenda set by the BJP. And that will be its undoing..."
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?268048
by Prarthna Gahilote
For the record, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) claims all is well and under control. Ten days after K.S. Sudarshan, a former sarsanghchalak, lashed out at Sonia Gandhi, calling her a CIA agent and accusing her of crimes even more preposterous, the Sangh's office-bearers assert that "the issue is over and the embarrassment from Sudarshanji's remarks long gone". At the Sangh's offices at Jhandewalan in Delhi, pracharaks also say the issue was blown out of proportion and that the RSS has made it clear that Sudarshan's views aren't the official view of the RSS. The BJP, too, has steered clear. Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson Tarun Vijay says, "Whatever political differences we have with her (Sonia Gandhi) must be addressed within an accepted, democratic framework and behaviour." While this position may go down well in Delhi, grassroots workers are disappointed at the Sangh's handling of the issue. Murmurs about how the seniors abandoned Sudarshan are now being heard from pracharaks in the RSS's smaller units in the states. In the Sangh stronghold of Madhya Pradesh, there is disappointment. One Sangh leader says, "We feel let down. The cadre is demoralised. If the Sangh and the central leadership of the BJP can abandon someone like Sudarshanji, what about us?"
The RSS top brass believes the issue will be forgotten. Perhaps, it will be. But insiders say the Sangh is going through a churning, and a crisis of sorts, that goes beyond the Sudarshan incident. "The RSS is an old organisation, but it has new people now. And new people have brought in new trends. The core ideology of the Sangh has been forgotten. Such problems are bound to happen," says Prof Balraj Madhok, a veteran Jan Sanghi. "I am surprised at the Sangh's response to Sudarshanji's remarks. Had it been the RSS of the old times, things would have been dealt with differently." Senior leaders believe that changing times and changing political dynamics are causing a degree of turmoil both in the parivar and the BJP. "The stakes are too high," says one leader. "The RSS is under compulsion to keep the atmosphere stable for the BJP. That is where the dilution has crept in. Sangh leaders today are unsure how much to intervene and where to keep a distance when it comes to political matters." That's perhaps why the Sangh's political arm, the BJP, ends up drumming its own drill. Even though only five months ago, the RSS, in its annual coordination meeting with the BJP leadership, had come down heavily on the party for "lack of mutual communication...and not being an effective opposition", little has changed. The RSS had also conveyed its resentment over the "dilution of the BJP's core ideology in the functioning of the party" to senior party leaders like L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi, who had attended the eight-hour meeting in June. The BJP was also told that senior leaders must resolve differences amicably and the leadership must speak in one voice.
According to RSS insiders, the BJP has done little in the recent past to rein in its leaders in Karnataka on the corruption issue in the state. The problem stems from the need to hold on to power, which is why Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa continues in power despite the Reddy brothers and their mining scams or the land-grabbing by several BJP leaders, including the chief minister's kith and kin. The RSS has voiced its protests - but in token fashion. The Sangh has to constantly keep in mind that the BJP needs to stay in power in the state. This is the reason many in the RSS are fast learning to ignore the prevalent evils in the BJP. "There was a time when corruption was unacceptable," says a source. "Now, workers are told we need to take people along. The RSS is caught in its own trap. In its desire to expand and increase the number of shakhas, it has forgotten to consolidate its base." Discomforting situations like the one in Karnataka have now cropped up in party-governed states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh as well. "Where ideology and the nationalist agenda came first, now personal whims and fancies are taking centrestage. Look at Madhya Pradesh. How do you explain the rise of Prabhat Jha to state party president?" asks a Sangh leader. Jha's rise to power is attributed to his proximity to RSS joint general secretary Suresh Soni.
A former RSS ideologue puts it this way: "Call it the Congressification of the RSS. The emphasis is on power. The cadre is directionless. In states where the BJP is in power, this emphasis on motivation more than ability is more pronounced. So even if there are problems with a certain individual, the RSS chooses to ignore it, taking comfort from the fact that at least it is their own person, and therefore, accessible. The result is there for everyone to see. What is worse is that there is confusion about the basic ideology of the RSS. All RSS-affiliated organisations are not sure what they need to follow." Because of the BJP's compulsions to remain in power, the RSS is forced to be pragmatic and in many ways keep political opportunities in mind. Perhaps that's why Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak, decided to lead protests against the Congress campaign against "Hindu terror". Old-timers like Madhok see it as "inappropriate and unnecessary". "The RSS chief could have done better," he says. "Why should he take to the streets? It does not behove well of the office he holds." In fact, the involvement of senior RSS functionaries like Indresh Kumar in terror attacks has divided the Sangh: one section feels it has to defend such leaders; the other feels it must distance itself from such persons.
In the middle of all this, the RSS is reduced to becoming an administrative network. "When an organisation gets into administrative work, it loses its direction," says a functionary. "That's what is happening to the RSS. Even senior leaders don't believe in active communication. Everything is left to pre-scheduled meetings, decided at the beginning of the year. Complaints from grassroots workers don't find redressal; core activities are being ignored. Unless the RSS fixes that, nothing will change." While course correction on this count is possible, it's another malaise that insiders say is corroding the organisation. "Increasingly, the Sangh has become apologetic about its conduct, not assertive," says a functionary. "This makes it follow the agenda set by the BJP. And that will be its undoing..."
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?268048
Of corruption and communalism
The Daily Times, 20 November 2010
by J Sri Raman
Both corruption and communalism have proved to be of considerable electoral use to the BJP. It has gained significantly in one parliamentary election and one state poll by its communalist campaign. It has profited, as part of an alliance, in a parliamentary election from a corruption issue
Any time of the year, whatever the season of the political calendar, you will find India’s main opposition party — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — engaged in either of two crusades: against ‘corruption-in-high-places’ or for religious communalism of the lowest order. Right now, the party is furiously engaged in the former, its saffron flags fluttering defiantly in defence of the taxpayers’ money allegedly to be recovered from “tainted” politicians of the ruling camp and not of the majority faith’s holy land lost to foreign hordes who have left a fifth column inside.
Before we proceed further, an important disclaimer: none of the following paragraphs means that all leaders of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are paragons of virtue. Nor is it the claim of this columnist that looting of the people’s money should be allowed without let or hindrance, or that the media should not question the manipulation of public funds, or that investigative agencies and ‘courts’ should not catch and punish the culprits.
Corruption, however, is not, repeat not, one of what the BJP itself calls its “core issues”. Communalism is certainly one of them, even if it is deceptively described as “cultural nationalism”. Indeed, it heads the list of such issues, providing the rationale for the rest including militarism and fierce opposition to social justice that is synonymous with casteism.
Corruption, on the contrary, figures prominently on the party’s list of what we may call its ‘convenient issue’. It helps the BJP frequently to forge an alliance with parties that would otherwise avoid any association with it like the plague. An anti-corruption campaign can cover a multitude of sins including murderous communalism.
Both corruption and communalism have, of course, proved to be of considerable electoral use to the BJP. It has gained significantly in one parliamentary election and one state poll by its communalist campaign. It has profited, as part of an alliance, in a parliamentary election from a corruption issue.
As for communalism, it played the Ayodhya card in the late 80s, transforming itself in the process from a two-member party in the Lok Sabha (the lower house in India’s parliament) into the country’s main parliamentary opposition. In 2002, the BJP cashed in on the Narendra Modi-organised pogrom with the resultant communal polarisation leading to a landslide victory for it in an election to a state. It realised the electoral potential of a corruption issue when the ‘Bofors scam’ gave it a big enough slice of influence at the Centre under the V P Singh government, leading on to better and better days for the party in New Delhi.
The consequences of the gains on the two grounds offer a study in contrasts. Barely an inch of progress has been made on Bofors ever since the issue decided an election by non-Congress governments, including successive BJP-headed regimes. The Ayodhya issue, on the other hand, has been kept alive to date, with the party hoping to carry its old campaign to its illogical conclusion after a recent court verdict that has controversially put faith above law. In Gujarat the party under Modi has kept its pogrom-time promise to its communal constituency by doing its best or worst to prevent justice for the victims and the return of survivors to their homes and occupations in the state.
The BJP was not involved in another state assembly election decided by the corruption issue. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the issue led to a change of governments. Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of the All-India Anna DMK lost to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of M Karunanidhi and its allies. A series of alleged scams (besides an ostentatious wedding of Jayalalithaa’s adopted son) were behind the DMK’s landslide victories.
If this deserves recollection today, it is because the same Jayalalithaa is in the forefront of the current anti-corruption campaign, targeting the DMK and one of its ministers in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government. Details of the telecommunication scam, which has led to the minister’s virtual dismissal, need not detain us here. What may be noted is the possibility of the issue bringing Jayalalithaa back into the political camp of the BJP, though she was instrumental in bringing down its government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee back in 1996.
There are many lessons for political parties to be learnt from the long series of corruption issues and episodes. We will not be surprised, however, if the only lesson they are prepared to learn is about the importance of indulging in corruption without getting caught.
For the people, the lessons are obvious. The first is about the need to beware of the forces seeking to use corruption issues as a camouflage for a communal-fascist agenda. The electorate should have also learnt by now not to expect an end to corruption by changing parties in power and not any part of the system. Corruption can be combated only when the people refuse favours to the political-bureaucratic-big business-rentiers who abuse their positions to enrich themselves at the common man’s expense in every conceivable way.
The writer is a journalist based in Chennai, India. A peace activist, he is also the author of a sheaf of poems titled At Gunpoint
by J Sri Raman
Both corruption and communalism have proved to be of considerable electoral use to the BJP. It has gained significantly in one parliamentary election and one state poll by its communalist campaign. It has profited, as part of an alliance, in a parliamentary election from a corruption issue
Any time of the year, whatever the season of the political calendar, you will find India’s main opposition party — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — engaged in either of two crusades: against ‘corruption-in-high-places’ or for religious communalism of the lowest order. Right now, the party is furiously engaged in the former, its saffron flags fluttering defiantly in defence of the taxpayers’ money allegedly to be recovered from “tainted” politicians of the ruling camp and not of the majority faith’s holy land lost to foreign hordes who have left a fifth column inside.
Before we proceed further, an important disclaimer: none of the following paragraphs means that all leaders of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are paragons of virtue. Nor is it the claim of this columnist that looting of the people’s money should be allowed without let or hindrance, or that the media should not question the manipulation of public funds, or that investigative agencies and ‘courts’ should not catch and punish the culprits.
Corruption, however, is not, repeat not, one of what the BJP itself calls its “core issues”. Communalism is certainly one of them, even if it is deceptively described as “cultural nationalism”. Indeed, it heads the list of such issues, providing the rationale for the rest including militarism and fierce opposition to social justice that is synonymous with casteism.
Corruption, on the contrary, figures prominently on the party’s list of what we may call its ‘convenient issue’. It helps the BJP frequently to forge an alliance with parties that would otherwise avoid any association with it like the plague. An anti-corruption campaign can cover a multitude of sins including murderous communalism.
Both corruption and communalism have, of course, proved to be of considerable electoral use to the BJP. It has gained significantly in one parliamentary election and one state poll by its communalist campaign. It has profited, as part of an alliance, in a parliamentary election from a corruption issue.
As for communalism, it played the Ayodhya card in the late 80s, transforming itself in the process from a two-member party in the Lok Sabha (the lower house in India’s parliament) into the country’s main parliamentary opposition. In 2002, the BJP cashed in on the Narendra Modi-organised pogrom with the resultant communal polarisation leading to a landslide victory for it in an election to a state. It realised the electoral potential of a corruption issue when the ‘Bofors scam’ gave it a big enough slice of influence at the Centre under the V P Singh government, leading on to better and better days for the party in New Delhi.
The consequences of the gains on the two grounds offer a study in contrasts. Barely an inch of progress has been made on Bofors ever since the issue decided an election by non-Congress governments, including successive BJP-headed regimes. The Ayodhya issue, on the other hand, has been kept alive to date, with the party hoping to carry its old campaign to its illogical conclusion after a recent court verdict that has controversially put faith above law. In Gujarat the party under Modi has kept its pogrom-time promise to its communal constituency by doing its best or worst to prevent justice for the victims and the return of survivors to their homes and occupations in the state.
The BJP was not involved in another state assembly election decided by the corruption issue. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the issue led to a change of governments. Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of the All-India Anna DMK lost to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of M Karunanidhi and its allies. A series of alleged scams (besides an ostentatious wedding of Jayalalithaa’s adopted son) were behind the DMK’s landslide victories.
If this deserves recollection today, it is because the same Jayalalithaa is in the forefront of the current anti-corruption campaign, targeting the DMK and one of its ministers in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government. Details of the telecommunication scam, which has led to the minister’s virtual dismissal, need not detain us here. What may be noted is the possibility of the issue bringing Jayalalithaa back into the political camp of the BJP, though she was instrumental in bringing down its government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee back in 1996.
There are many lessons for political parties to be learnt from the long series of corruption issues and episodes. We will not be surprised, however, if the only lesson they are prepared to learn is about the importance of indulging in corruption without getting caught.
For the people, the lessons are obvious. The first is about the need to beware of the forces seeking to use corruption issues as a camouflage for a communal-fascist agenda. The electorate should have also learnt by now not to expect an end to corruption by changing parties in power and not any part of the system. Corruption can be combated only when the people refuse favours to the political-bureaucratic-big business-rentiers who abuse their positions to enrich themselves at the common man’s expense in every conceivable way.
The writer is a journalist based in Chennai, India. A peace activist, he is also the author of a sheaf of poems titled At Gunpoint
November 22, 2010
Was the Harappan Culture Vedic? [refuting BB Lal]
Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 135–144
DEBATE
Was the Harappan Culture Vedic?*
by Ram Sharan Sharma
West Boring Canal Road, Patna 800001
(* Fourth Foundation Day Lecture of the Indian Council of Historical Research delivered on March 27, 2005.)
http://www.jisha.in/art2/9rss1jc94ha903hcxx01u.pdf
DEBATE
Was the Harappan Culture Vedic?*
by Ram Sharan Sharma
West Boring Canal Road, Patna 800001
(* Fourth Foundation Day Lecture of the Indian Council of Historical Research delivered on March 27, 2005.)
http://www.jisha.in/art2/9rss1jc94ha903hcxx01u.pdf
Chronicle of Communal Riots in Bombay Presidency (1893-1945)
(The Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 45 No. 47 November 20 - November 26, 2010)
by Meena Menon
From 1893 onwards Bombay Presidency witnessed a series of communal riots between Hindus and Muslims, and the first one had the cow protection movement as a backdrop. The reclaiming of public places through celebration of festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, discord over cow slaughter, disputes over playing of music near religious places, the building of prayer halls, mosques and temples and tombs sparked communal violence causing divisions among the Hindus and Muslims. By the time the Muslim League demanded a separate state, relations were polarised and the riots continued right up to Partition and beyond.
http://epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/15395.pdf
by Meena Menon
From 1893 onwards Bombay Presidency witnessed a series of communal riots between Hindus and Muslims, and the first one had the cow protection movement as a backdrop. The reclaiming of public places through celebration of festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, discord over cow slaughter, disputes over playing of music near religious places, the building of prayer halls, mosques and temples and tombs sparked communal violence causing divisions among the Hindus and Muslims. By the time the Muslim League demanded a separate state, relations were polarised and the riots continued right up to Partition and beyond.
http://epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/15395.pdf
November 21, 2010
Absconding Swami Asimanand arrrested and in Judicial custody
The Tribune, 20 November 2010
Mecca Masjid blast accused held from Haridwar ashram
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service
The ashram room of one of the accused, Jatin Chatterjee, popularly known as Swami Asimanand, who was arrested by the CBI on Friday. A Tribune photograph
Haridwar, November 19
In a secret operation, a Central Bureau of Investigation team raided a Haridwar ‘ashram’ and took into custody evasive Jatin Chatterjee alias Swami Asimanand and his aide for their alleged involvement in Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad), Ajmer and Malegaon blast cases.
According to information, the five-member CBI team from New Delhi swooped on suburban Bahadrabad-based ashram, situated at Atmalpur Baungla village near here, late last night and arrested Chatterjee and his aide Brahmanand. The duo was interrogated prior to being arrested.
Asimanand is considered as an ideologue by Abhinav Bharat, an organisation alleged to be behind the Malegaon blast in Maharashtra in 2008.
As the CBI operation was a top secret owing to the sensitivity of the case, initially even the Haridwar police was unaware of the proceedings. Swami Asimanand, it is learnt, had been staying in the area for the past one week. And the local police’s not knowing anything about the blast suspects is being considered as an intelligence failure.
Police said the CBI had received some intelligence inputs about the suspects hiding in Haridwar. A passport issued by authorities in Kolkata, a ration card and a voter identity card (issued by Haridwar officials) were also seized from their possession.
As per sources at another ashram here, Swami Asimanand had come to Haridwar on November 12 to attend a religious function. Here, he was taken ill and had been residing at the ashram ever since.
o o o
The Hindu, Nov 21, 2010
Swami Asimanand in judicial custody
Staff ReporterHYDERABAD: Swami Asimanand, who was arrested by the CBI in connection with the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, was remanded to judicial custody till November 30 by a local criminal court here on Saturday.
The 59-year-old man, with his face fully covered with a shawl, was produced amid tight security in the court of 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, where a strong media contingent waited since morning.
He is to be lodged in a separate cell in Chanchalguda Central Prison in view of the threat perception. Moreover, the CBI's plea that Asimanand be remanded for a 15-day police custody would be heard on Monday.
High security
The CBI flew the arrested man in a special flight from New Delhi to Hyderabad on a transit remand, in top secrecy and amid high security. Clad in a white shirt and white lungi, Asimanand covered his face with a light brown coloured shawl and was led into the court hall surrounded by a posse of nearly 30 policemen.
Asimanand, who appeared nervous, told the court that he had no advocate to defend him. Asked whether he should be remanded to judicial or police custody, he replied in chaste Hindi: “I am prepared for anything. I have full faith in the agency.” Ultimately, the court had appointed a defence advocate to represent him.
The CBI told the court that his complicity in the conspiracy of Masjid blast came to light recently and that he was now being cited as accused number six. His real name was Naba Kumar Sarkar and he was also using alias of Swami Omkaranand. He was arrested in Haridwar by the CBI on Friday.
Mail Today Editorial on the the arrest of Key Hindutva Ideologue
Mail Today, 21 November 2010
Editorial
A prize catch indeed
THE arrest of Hindtuva ideologue Swami Asimanand, allegedly one of the main conspirators behind the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts of 2007 is yet another feather in the cap of the investigating agencies, which have had a number of successes against Hindutva terrorists in the recent past. It was only a few weeks back that the Rajasthan Anti- Terrorism Squad ( ATS) arrested Harshadbhai Solanki and Mukesh Vasani in connection with the Ajmer blasts.
This clearly shows that the different investigating agencies like the ATSs of Maharashtra and Rajasthan as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation have been coordinating their efforts more effectively. Asimanand’s arrest is particularly significant given the clout that he enjoyed with a number of politicians including Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
In fact, the Gujarat government had consistently turned a blind eye to Asimanand’s terrorist activities which date back to much before the 2007 blasts. He was accused of instigating if not orchestrating attacks on Christians in the tribal- dominated Dangs district, where he had been active in reconversion efforts since 1996 . The fact that the investigators found it difficult to even disclose that they were after Asimanand is a testimony to the pressure they were under. This makes their success all the more creditable.
Editorial
A prize catch indeed
THE arrest of Hindtuva ideologue Swami Asimanand, allegedly one of the main conspirators behind the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts of 2007 is yet another feather in the cap of the investigating agencies, which have had a number of successes against Hindutva terrorists in the recent past. It was only a few weeks back that the Rajasthan Anti- Terrorism Squad ( ATS) arrested Harshadbhai Solanki and Mukesh Vasani in connection with the Ajmer blasts.
This clearly shows that the different investigating agencies like the ATSs of Maharashtra and Rajasthan as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation have been coordinating their efforts more effectively. Asimanand’s arrest is particularly significant given the clout that he enjoyed with a number of politicians including Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
In fact, the Gujarat government had consistently turned a blind eye to Asimanand’s terrorist activities which date back to much before the 2007 blasts. He was accused of instigating if not orchestrating attacks on Christians in the tribal- dominated Dangs district, where he had been active in reconversion efforts since 1996 . The fact that the investigators found it difficult to even disclose that they were after Asimanand is a testimony to the pressure they were under. This makes their success all the more creditable.
November 20, 2010
The arrest of Swami Aseemanand
Indian Express, November 20 2010
Shock grips Aseemanand’s followers at his Dangs base
The arrest of Swami Aseemanand has come as a shock to his followers in Sabridham that he set up after he came to the tribal district of the Dangs in 1996. Most of them found it hard to believe he could be involved in terror strikes. Routine activities at Sabri Mata temple, however, continued on Friday.
Aseemanand had gone underground soon since his name figured in the so-called Hindutva terror ring after the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur by the Mumbai ATS more than two years ago. Both Rajasthan and Mumbai ATS have been on his trail in the Dangs but failed to get any leads from the locals in the Dangs, mostly tribals among whom he commands a large following.
Swami was one of the trustees of Sabri Mata Sewa Samithi Trust formed for building a temple at Subir village in the Dangs. A veteran BJP leader from Navsari, Jayenti Kewat, had helped him in building the temple by collecting funds from businessmen in Surat and Navsari. Aseemanand also played a key role in organising the Sabri Kumbh fair at Subir village in 2006, which many said was a re-conversion exercise.
Kewat was president of the Trust from 2006 to 2009. Later, when Aseemanand’s name figured in connection with the Malegaon blast, he went underground and the entire body was dissolved.
A new body was formed comprising Aseemanand’s close associates including Vijay Patel, the BJP MLA from the Dangs, Nirmala Kishor Gamit, Ramni Puwar, Phoolchand Kokni, Kalu Gayekwad and a few others.
At present, the president of the Trust is Swami Jagdev Ramji of Chhattisgarh, who is also president of All India Vanwasi Kalyan Ashram.
“Swami came to Dangs in 1996 and had stayed in Kangadiamal village. He created a good image among tribals and even learnt Dangi language. He was truly a religious man. He had brought back many tribals to the Hindu fold after they were converted into Christianity,” said Nirmala Kishor Gavit, one of the trustees.
“We have worked with Swamiji for long and roamed with him in villages for years. He is a pious man and worked for the uplift of tribals,” he said.
Shock grips Aseemanand’s followers at his Dangs base
The arrest of Swami Aseemanand has come as a shock to his followers in Sabridham that he set up after he came to the tribal district of the Dangs in 1996. Most of them found it hard to believe he could be involved in terror strikes. Routine activities at Sabri Mata temple, however, continued on Friday.
Aseemanand had gone underground soon since his name figured in the so-called Hindutva terror ring after the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur by the Mumbai ATS more than two years ago. Both Rajasthan and Mumbai ATS have been on his trail in the Dangs but failed to get any leads from the locals in the Dangs, mostly tribals among whom he commands a large following.
Swami was one of the trustees of Sabri Mata Sewa Samithi Trust formed for building a temple at Subir village in the Dangs. A veteran BJP leader from Navsari, Jayenti Kewat, had helped him in building the temple by collecting funds from businessmen in Surat and Navsari. Aseemanand also played a key role in organising the Sabri Kumbh fair at Subir village in 2006, which many said was a re-conversion exercise.
Kewat was president of the Trust from 2006 to 2009. Later, when Aseemanand’s name figured in connection with the Malegaon blast, he went underground and the entire body was dissolved.
A new body was formed comprising Aseemanand’s close associates including Vijay Patel, the BJP MLA from the Dangs, Nirmala Kishor Gamit, Ramni Puwar, Phoolchand Kokni, Kalu Gayekwad and a few others.
At present, the president of the Trust is Swami Jagdev Ramji of Chhattisgarh, who is also president of All India Vanwasi Kalyan Ashram.
“Swami came to Dangs in 1996 and had stayed in Kangadiamal village. He created a good image among tribals and even learnt Dangi language. He was truly a religious man. He had brought back many tribals to the Hindu fold after they were converted into Christianity,” said Nirmala Kishor Gavit, one of the trustees.
“We have worked with Swamiji for long and roamed with him in villages for years. He is a pious man and worked for the uplift of tribals,” he said.
Can Sikhs claim minority status in Punjab?
The Hindu, 19 November 2010
‘Can Sikhs claim minority status in Punjab?' issue for Constitution Bench
J. Venkatesan
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it would refer for adjudication by a Constitution Bench the issue whether Sikhs, who form a majority population in Punjab, can claim ‘minority' status in that State.
A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar gave this indication during the course of arguments on a batch of appeals from the State of Punjab and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) against a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which held that Sikhs were not “minorities” in Punjab and could not claim minority rights. In May 2009, the court stayed the operation of the judgment.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 17, 2007 struck down a notification issued by the Punjab government on April 13, 2001 permitting the SGPC to give 50 per cent reservation to Sikh students in colleges run by it on grounds that Sikhs were a minority community.
“Parameters not applied”
The High Court was of the view that the impugned notifications had not applied the relevant parameters for declaring a group of individuals to be minority.
“The country could not be taken as a unit, as has been done. There is no material to substantiate that “Sikhs” are a non-dominant group in Punjab apprehending deprivation of their rights at the hands of “dominant” groups, who may come to power in the State in a democratic election. The notifications are clearly ultra vires the jurisdiction of the State government, violating right of equality and public interest.”
The State and the SGPC argued in the Supreme Court that the High Court erred by striking down the minority status of the Sikhs. They said that going by the definition of Sikhs as explained in the Sikh Gurdwaras (SG) Act, 1925, only about 53 lakh, roughly one-third of the electoral college of the SGPC, were Sikhs as against the 1.66 crore total voters in the State. They disputed the High Court's reasoning to conclude that Sikhs were a majority by virtue of a Census report that pegged their population in the State at 59.2 per cent.
The State said this figure, taken from the 2001 census, was based on a counting of all sects belonging to Udasis, Nirmala Sadhus, Sant Nirankari Mandal, Dera Sacha Sauda, Radha Soami Satsang.
“They are not Sikhs within the meaning of ‘Sikh' under the SG Act, 1925, since they believe in living gurus.”
‘Can Sikhs claim minority status in Punjab?' issue for Constitution Bench
J. Venkatesan
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it would refer for adjudication by a Constitution Bench the issue whether Sikhs, who form a majority population in Punjab, can claim ‘minority' status in that State.
A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar gave this indication during the course of arguments on a batch of appeals from the State of Punjab and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) against a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which held that Sikhs were not “minorities” in Punjab and could not claim minority rights. In May 2009, the court stayed the operation of the judgment.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 17, 2007 struck down a notification issued by the Punjab government on April 13, 2001 permitting the SGPC to give 50 per cent reservation to Sikh students in colleges run by it on grounds that Sikhs were a minority community.
“Parameters not applied”
The High Court was of the view that the impugned notifications had not applied the relevant parameters for declaring a group of individuals to be minority.
“The country could not be taken as a unit, as has been done. There is no material to substantiate that “Sikhs” are a non-dominant group in Punjab apprehending deprivation of their rights at the hands of “dominant” groups, who may come to power in the State in a democratic election. The notifications are clearly ultra vires the jurisdiction of the State government, violating right of equality and public interest.”
The State and the SGPC argued in the Supreme Court that the High Court erred by striking down the minority status of the Sikhs. They said that going by the definition of Sikhs as explained in the Sikh Gurdwaras (SG) Act, 1925, only about 53 lakh, roughly one-third of the electoral college of the SGPC, were Sikhs as against the 1.66 crore total voters in the State. They disputed the High Court's reasoning to conclude that Sikhs were a majority by virtue of a Census report that pegged their population in the State at 59.2 per cent.
The State said this figure, taken from the 2001 census, was based on a counting of all sects belonging to Udasis, Nirmala Sadhus, Sant Nirankari Mandal, Dera Sacha Sauda, Radha Soami Satsang.
“They are not Sikhs within the meaning of ‘Sikh' under the SG Act, 1925, since they believe in living gurus.”
Bomb blasts investigation leads to Abhinav Bharat ideologue from Bengal
The Telegraph, November 20 , 2010
Mosque bomb trail leads to Bengal Swami
OUR BUREAU & PTI
Nov. 19: A suspected Abhinav Bharat ideologue from Hooghly who floated a front to reverse alleged conversion by Christian missionaries in Gujarat and had Narendra Modi at one of his events has been arrested over the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad.
Jatin Chatterjee, a native of Kamarpukur in the Bengal district with a Master’s degree in science from Burdwan University, is known as Swami Asimanand among his followers.
The name of the 59-year-old, who is believed to change his appearance frequently, also cropped up in the Ajmer blast case of the same year. Rajasthan’s anti-terror squad (ATS) is probing that attack.
Chatterjee was picked up by the CBI this morning from Uttarakhand’s Hardwar, where he had been living allegedly under a fake identity. A passport issued by the regional passport office in Calcutta, a ration card and a voter card issued by the local authorities in Hardwar were recovered from him.
Although his name had surfaced during the investigation of the Mecca Masjid blast, the investigating agency was hamstrung because of the lack of information on his appearance, sources said.
A clear trail began to emerge after the CBI questioned two Ajmer blast accused — Sandeep Darge and Ram Chadra Kalsangra alias Ramji — in connection with the Hyderabad attack of May 2007 in which 16 worshippers died.
Chatterjee’s name had also surfaced during the investigations into the 2008 Malegaon blasts — blamed on Abhinav Bharat — after the Maharashtra ATS recovered the phone number of Chatterjee’s driver from Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key member of the hardline outfit already arrested in the case.
Chatterjee has been either underground or posing as another person since the Malegaon probe started. But back in 1998, as a firebrand reconversion campaigner in Gujarat’s tribal-dominated Dangs district, he was a household name.
Hindu Jagran Manch, an outfit he floated, was fighting what Chatterjee and his followers claimed were conversions by Christian missionaries.
A number of Christian prayer halls were burnt down, allegedly by his outfit, at the height of the reconversion campaign. The violence had prompted then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to visit the area.
One of the high points of the Manch’s activities was a fair that it organised along with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 2006. Chief minister Narendra Modi was among the prominent political figures who had attended the event. Chatterjee, who had an ashram there, even built a temple to Sabri Mata, the local deity.
Before going to Gujarat, Chatterjee was said to have worked with tribals — through the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram — in Bengal’s Purulia, Bastar (now in Chhattisgarh but then in Madhya Pradesh) and even in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Chatterjee was brought later today to Delhi, where a city court allowed the CBI his transit remand and asked the agency to produce him in a Hyderabad court within 48 hours.
Mosque bomb trail leads to Bengal Swami
OUR BUREAU & PTI
Nov. 19: A suspected Abhinav Bharat ideologue from Hooghly who floated a front to reverse alleged conversion by Christian missionaries in Gujarat and had Narendra Modi at one of his events has been arrested over the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad.
Jatin Chatterjee, a native of Kamarpukur in the Bengal district with a Master’s degree in science from Burdwan University, is known as Swami Asimanand among his followers.
The name of the 59-year-old, who is believed to change his appearance frequently, also cropped up in the Ajmer blast case of the same year. Rajasthan’s anti-terror squad (ATS) is probing that attack.
Chatterjee was picked up by the CBI this morning from Uttarakhand’s Hardwar, where he had been living allegedly under a fake identity. A passport issued by the regional passport office in Calcutta, a ration card and a voter card issued by the local authorities in Hardwar were recovered from him.
Although his name had surfaced during the investigation of the Mecca Masjid blast, the investigating agency was hamstrung because of the lack of information on his appearance, sources said.
A clear trail began to emerge after the CBI questioned two Ajmer blast accused — Sandeep Darge and Ram Chadra Kalsangra alias Ramji — in connection with the Hyderabad attack of May 2007 in which 16 worshippers died.
Chatterjee’s name had also surfaced during the investigations into the 2008 Malegaon blasts — blamed on Abhinav Bharat — after the Maharashtra ATS recovered the phone number of Chatterjee’s driver from Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key member of the hardline outfit already arrested in the case.
Chatterjee has been either underground or posing as another person since the Malegaon probe started. But back in 1998, as a firebrand reconversion campaigner in Gujarat’s tribal-dominated Dangs district, he was a household name.
Hindu Jagran Manch, an outfit he floated, was fighting what Chatterjee and his followers claimed were conversions by Christian missionaries.
A number of Christian prayer halls were burnt down, allegedly by his outfit, at the height of the reconversion campaign. The violence had prompted then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to visit the area.
One of the high points of the Manch’s activities was a fair that it organised along with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 2006. Chief minister Narendra Modi was among the prominent political figures who had attended the event. Chatterjee, who had an ashram there, even built a temple to Sabri Mata, the local deity.
Before going to Gujarat, Chatterjee was said to have worked with tribals — through the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram — in Bengal’s Purulia, Bastar (now in Chhattisgarh but then in Madhya Pradesh) and even in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Chatterjee was brought later today to Delhi, where a city court allowed the CBI his transit remand and asked the agency to produce him in a Hyderabad court within 48 hours.
November 19, 2010
Putting an End to Fascist Intolerance
Navhind Times, November 10, 2010
by Praful Bidwai
The attack by Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha activists on the residence of writer Arundhati Roy in Delhi, accompanied by abusive slogans and breaking of flower-pots, marks a new low in the destructive activities of the forces of bigotry and intolerance in India.
It is a hair-raising reminder of the great distance this society has travelled from the concept of a liberal democracy which genuinely respects the freedom of expression and the right to dissent - a concept that is at the heart of the Constitution.
The Morcha’s offence to democratic values is aggravated by the obnoxious rationalisation of the attack as a protest against Roy’s remarks about azaadi in Kashmir, timed to coincide with the birth anniversary of former home minister Vallabhbhai Patel. Patel is the very man who banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, BJP’s parent, after Gandhi’s assassination, and warned Hindutva supporters that their attempts to suborn the agencies of the Indian state would not be condoned.
Roy’s remarks on azaadi
The events leading to the attack follow a definite pattern. First, Roy’s remarks at a public meeting in Delhi on Kashmir are distorted to mean that she favours India’s break-up. What she said was that the status of Jammu and Kashmir in India is not settled despite the accession to India by the Maharaja in October 1947. This is a fact - and something that thousands of Kashmiris, including Chief Minister Mr Omar Abdullah have repeatedly reiterated. Indeed, the Shimla agreement of 1972 and efforts by various Indian governments, including Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s, to reach a settlement on Kashmir with Pakistan are testimony to the existence of an issue or dispute. Roy also spoke of the brutality of the military occupation in Kashmir. This too is incontrovertible - with the presence of over 4,00,000 security and police forces in the Valley, and some 20,000 deaths over two decades.
Second, the BJP drums up hatred by demanding that the Centre sue Roy - equated with hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani - for sedition under Section 124(A) of the IPC. By saying it is examining the issue, the Centre partly legitimises - the repugnant idea that Roy’s remarks, which were a sober reflection on Kashmir, were meant to create "disaffection" and "hatred" against the state. This erases the critical distinction between remarks which are unconventional, controversial and extremely contentious, even disagreeable, but acceptable in a democracy, and those which constitute a direct, explicit and unambiguous incitement to violence. Roy’s comments do not fall into the second category. Rather, as she says, they were "fundamentally a call for justice."
Three, mercifully, the Centre drops the misguided idea of prosecuting Roy, but sections of the media go hysterical, calling Roy an "impostor," "traitor," and worse. Some television channels such as ‘Times Now,’ ‘News 24,’ and even ‘NDTV’ decide to become accessory to the criminal attack on Roy’s house by sending outdoor broadcasting vans there ahead of the BJP Mahila mob. It is perfectly fine to collude in trampling on the fundamental right to free expression and on the rule of law in pursuit of higher television rating points!
This too is a repetition of what some TV channels did in June when Roy’s house was first attacked. The groundwork for the hysteria against Roy was laid even earlier, when a ‘Times Now’ TV anchor known for his rantings against anything humanist screamed after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks: "Arundhati Roy, where are you? We want to tell you we hate you ...." This is akin to the targeting of dissidents and critics by Nazis and fascists through calumny and hate-speech.
Regrettably, Roy has not escaped the hostility of self-professed liberals with a hollow commitment to intellectual integrity like Ramachandra Guha, who declared that Roy is neither a writer nor an intellectual - when she is incontestably a world-renowned author whose razor-sharp writings have exposed much that is wrong with the Indian state and society.
Hindu Right’s offensive on freedom
The attack on Roy comes just when the Hindu Right has launched a two-pronged offensive on freedom and Indian democracy. The first is a campaign against books, plays and films which the sangh parivar does not like for a variety of arbitrary and irrational reasons and which it wants banned for offending the sentiments of "the majority community." But it does not even represent that community. This has culminated in the Shiv Sena’s successful attempt to get Rohinton Mistry’s fine novel removed from the reading list of Bombay University’s English literature course. There is a long lineage to such assaults on artistic freedom and scholarly writings - witness the parivar’s many raids: on Sahmat’s Ayodhya exhibition in Delhi, on the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune (on the James Laine issue), and on MF Hussain’s gumpha (cave) in Gujarat.
The parivar has driven Hussain, India’s best-known modern painter, into exile. Over the years, this society has "absorbed" and "normalised" such offences without pausing to ask how they degrade our democracy and what we should do about them.
The Hindu Right’s second campaign aims to shield the most violent elements in its ranks implicated in a well- organised and -ramified network which has recently conducted numerous terrorist bombings of Muslim dargahs and mosques. The latest disclosure in this regard comes from the chargesheet filed in the Ajmer dargah blasts of October 2007, which killed three persons. The Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad names five accused. Four of them are closely associated with the RSS. Suspicion centres, in particular, on Indresh Kumar for organising a secret meeting in October 2005 which discussed the strategy for conducting the blast. Kumar is an RSS full-timer and a member of its national executive council based in Varanasi and considered to be among the top 15 pracharaks. He was in regular contact with former pracharak Sunil Joshi who is believed to have made and triggered the Ajmer bomb along with Harshad Solanki. Solanki has just been arrested by the Rajasthan police. He is a prime accused in Gujarat’s Best Bakery case - an ominous connection. Besides lndresh Kumar, there are other RSS members connected with a shadowy organisation called Jai Vande Mataram, which in turn has links with Abhinav Bharat, which was behind the Malegaon blasts of September 2006 and Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid bombing of May 2007. Among the key people are Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, Pragya Singh, Ramji Kulsangra and ‘Swami’ Aseemanand.
As evidence mounts against Indresh Kumar, the RSS has decided to launch nationwide protests against what it calls "a political conspiracy" by the Centre to link it to terrorist activities. The sangh has decided to use political pressure and bullying so that no such link is established. If this is established, the RSS’ ‘nationalist’ and ‘patriotic’ credentials would collapse with consequences similar to those in 1948-49, when it was accused of involvement in Gandhi’s assassination. The Hindu Right’s terrorism is no less pernicious than Islamic-jehadi extremism. Punishing the Hindutva terror network is a litmus test for our democracy. It must not fail it.
by Praful Bidwai
The attack by Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha activists on the residence of writer Arundhati Roy in Delhi, accompanied by abusive slogans and breaking of flower-pots, marks a new low in the destructive activities of the forces of bigotry and intolerance in India.
It is a hair-raising reminder of the great distance this society has travelled from the concept of a liberal democracy which genuinely respects the freedom of expression and the right to dissent - a concept that is at the heart of the Constitution.
The Morcha’s offence to democratic values is aggravated by the obnoxious rationalisation of the attack as a protest against Roy’s remarks about azaadi in Kashmir, timed to coincide with the birth anniversary of former home minister Vallabhbhai Patel. Patel is the very man who banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, BJP’s parent, after Gandhi’s assassination, and warned Hindutva supporters that their attempts to suborn the agencies of the Indian state would not be condoned.
Roy’s remarks on azaadi
The events leading to the attack follow a definite pattern. First, Roy’s remarks at a public meeting in Delhi on Kashmir are distorted to mean that she favours India’s break-up. What she said was that the status of Jammu and Kashmir in India is not settled despite the accession to India by the Maharaja in October 1947. This is a fact - and something that thousands of Kashmiris, including Chief Minister Mr Omar Abdullah have repeatedly reiterated. Indeed, the Shimla agreement of 1972 and efforts by various Indian governments, including Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s, to reach a settlement on Kashmir with Pakistan are testimony to the existence of an issue or dispute. Roy also spoke of the brutality of the military occupation in Kashmir. This too is incontrovertible - with the presence of over 4,00,000 security and police forces in the Valley, and some 20,000 deaths over two decades.
Second, the BJP drums up hatred by demanding that the Centre sue Roy - equated with hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani - for sedition under Section 124(A) of the IPC. By saying it is examining the issue, the Centre partly legitimises - the repugnant idea that Roy’s remarks, which were a sober reflection on Kashmir, were meant to create "disaffection" and "hatred" against the state. This erases the critical distinction between remarks which are unconventional, controversial and extremely contentious, even disagreeable, but acceptable in a democracy, and those which constitute a direct, explicit and unambiguous incitement to violence. Roy’s comments do not fall into the second category. Rather, as she says, they were "fundamentally a call for justice."
Three, mercifully, the Centre drops the misguided idea of prosecuting Roy, but sections of the media go hysterical, calling Roy an "impostor," "traitor," and worse. Some television channels such as ‘Times Now,’ ‘News 24,’ and even ‘NDTV’ decide to become accessory to the criminal attack on Roy’s house by sending outdoor broadcasting vans there ahead of the BJP Mahila mob. It is perfectly fine to collude in trampling on the fundamental right to free expression and on the rule of law in pursuit of higher television rating points!
This too is a repetition of what some TV channels did in June when Roy’s house was first attacked. The groundwork for the hysteria against Roy was laid even earlier, when a ‘Times Now’ TV anchor known for his rantings against anything humanist screamed after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks: "Arundhati Roy, where are you? We want to tell you we hate you ...." This is akin to the targeting of dissidents and critics by Nazis and fascists through calumny and hate-speech.
Regrettably, Roy has not escaped the hostility of self-professed liberals with a hollow commitment to intellectual integrity like Ramachandra Guha, who declared that Roy is neither a writer nor an intellectual - when she is incontestably a world-renowned author whose razor-sharp writings have exposed much that is wrong with the Indian state and society.
Hindu Right’s offensive on freedom
The attack on Roy comes just when the Hindu Right has launched a two-pronged offensive on freedom and Indian democracy. The first is a campaign against books, plays and films which the sangh parivar does not like for a variety of arbitrary and irrational reasons and which it wants banned for offending the sentiments of "the majority community." But it does not even represent that community. This has culminated in the Shiv Sena’s successful attempt to get Rohinton Mistry’s fine novel removed from the reading list of Bombay University’s English literature course. There is a long lineage to such assaults on artistic freedom and scholarly writings - witness the parivar’s many raids: on Sahmat’s Ayodhya exhibition in Delhi, on the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune (on the James Laine issue), and on MF Hussain’s gumpha (cave) in Gujarat.
The parivar has driven Hussain, India’s best-known modern painter, into exile. Over the years, this society has "absorbed" and "normalised" such offences without pausing to ask how they degrade our democracy and what we should do about them.
The Hindu Right’s second campaign aims to shield the most violent elements in its ranks implicated in a well- organised and -ramified network which has recently conducted numerous terrorist bombings of Muslim dargahs and mosques. The latest disclosure in this regard comes from the chargesheet filed in the Ajmer dargah blasts of October 2007, which killed three persons. The Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad names five accused. Four of them are closely associated with the RSS. Suspicion centres, in particular, on Indresh Kumar for organising a secret meeting in October 2005 which discussed the strategy for conducting the blast. Kumar is an RSS full-timer and a member of its national executive council based in Varanasi and considered to be among the top 15 pracharaks. He was in regular contact with former pracharak Sunil Joshi who is believed to have made and triggered the Ajmer bomb along with Harshad Solanki. Solanki has just been arrested by the Rajasthan police. He is a prime accused in Gujarat’s Best Bakery case - an ominous connection. Besides lndresh Kumar, there are other RSS members connected with a shadowy organisation called Jai Vande Mataram, which in turn has links with Abhinav Bharat, which was behind the Malegaon blasts of September 2006 and Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid bombing of May 2007. Among the key people are Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, Pragya Singh, Ramji Kulsangra and ‘Swami’ Aseemanand.
As evidence mounts against Indresh Kumar, the RSS has decided to launch nationwide protests against what it calls "a political conspiracy" by the Centre to link it to terrorist activities. The sangh has decided to use political pressure and bullying so that no such link is established. If this is established, the RSS’ ‘nationalist’ and ‘patriotic’ credentials would collapse with consequences similar to those in 1948-49, when it was accused of involvement in Gandhi’s assassination. The Hindu Right’s terrorism is no less pernicious than Islamic-jehadi extremism. Punishing the Hindutva terror network is a litmus test for our democracy. It must not fail it.
Aditya Thackeray's initiation into Shiv Sena
Frontline Magazine, Volume 27 - Issue 23 :: Nov. 06-19, 2010
Initiation rites
AP
ACTIVISTS OF THE Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena and the Shiv Sena burn copies of the novel during a protest in Mumbai on September 14. VIVEK BENDRE
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray with son Uddhav and grandson Aditya at the Sena's Dasara rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on October 17.
Initiation rites
ANUPAMA KATAKAM & LYLA BAVADAM
| Bal Thackeray's grandson Aditya launches himself in true Sena style with a campaign against Rohinton Mistry's book. |
ACTIVISTS OF THE Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena and the Shiv Sena burn copies of the novel during a protest in Mumbai on September 14.
“Believe me,” said Dinshawji, “she [Indira Gandhi] is a shrewd woman, these are vote-getting tactics. Showing the poor she is on their side. Saali always up to some mischief. Remember when her pappy was Prime Minister and he made her president of Congress Party? At once she began encouraging the demands for a separate Maharashtra. How much bloodshed, how much rioting she caused. And today we have that bloody Shiv Sena, wanting to make the rest of us into second-class citizens. Don't forget, she started it all by supporting the racist buggers” (page 38-39, 1991 edition).
“What kind of life was Sohrab going to look forward to? No future for minorities, with all these fascist Shiv Sena politics and Marathi language nonsense. It was going to be like the black people in America — twice as good as the white man to get half as much” (page 55).
THESE are a couple of “offensive” paragraphs about the Shiv Sena from Rohinton Mistry's novel Such A Long Journey.
Truth is a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the Shiv Sena. Repeated incidents have shown the party is unable to digest any derogatory remarks about it. The party leader to take offence now is Aditya Thackeray, grandson of Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. The newly anointed leader of the party's students' wing decided in September that Such a Long Journey is offensive to the Sainiks.
The 20-year-old Aditya Thackeray needed an opportunity to show that he had arrived. And so he chose to bash the Booker Prize-nominated, Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning work of fiction, prescribed for the second year B.A. English syllabus of the University of Mumbai. Mistry's novel was published 20 years ago to universal acclaim.
Until Aditya Thackeray decided to ask for its ban, it was viewed as a brilliant novel and nothing else.
Right-wing antics
In characteristic Sena style, the junior Thackeray burned a copy of the book at the university gates, threatened the Vice-Chancellor and made several irrational and immature statements about Mistry. He was audacious enough to admit that he had not read the entire book but had seen the disparaging references to the Shiv Sena, which, he said, he would not tolerate. Buckling to the threats, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Rajan Welukar, had the book removed almost overnight from the syllabus.
Justifying his fight, Aditya Thackeray told the media: “We have no issues with the book being available in the market but it is being forced upon us…. Here we have a book that is a part of our syllabus, which makes it impossible for us to avoid.”
Though the Sena's hypocritical and parochial right-wing antics are well-known, academics are disturbed by the speed with which the novel was withdrawn from the syllabus. No proper procedure was followed in its removal.
Activists and the intelligentsia in the metropolis feel that Mistry's novel is the latest victim of a disturbing trend of book banning, film censorship and other such undemocratic actions. This is the second book (after James Laine's book on Shivaji) to face censorship in the State in recent times.
What is more, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who has not read the book either, justified the move. He said the book made derogatory remarks about former Congress leader and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as well.
The incident once again shows the disregard for the freedom of speech and expression, say activists of the right to free expression. “Who gave Aditya Thackeray the right to tell us what to read and what not to? Who gives Ashok Chavan the right to decide what is good and bad literature? Are they qualified for this task?” asks documentary film-maker Anand Patwardhan, who has been a victim of censorship for decades. “The characters in novels do not always represent the author's view point. That is the beauty of literature. If writing has to be politically correct, then everything will be so bland,” he says.
“The other thing is we are a small band who protest. The larger populace is frightened and that's the victory of the Sena and similar types of organisations. Take for example James Laine's book and the controversy about his description of Shivaji's parentage. Although the ban has been lifted, neither the publisher nor booksellers are willing to stock the book,” says Patwardhan.
Although the general populace is fearful of crossing the Sena's path, this time around there seems to be a more proactive movement against this form of censorship. Several newspapers, including regional language publications, and television channels reported the incident at great length and their tone certainly was not pro-Sena.
Competitive populism
A statement issued by a prominent writers' group, The Pen All-India Centre India, says:
“India has lapsed into the worst kind of competitive populism, with political forces seeking to outdo one another in destroying and banning works of literature, art, theatre and cinema, in the name of an aggrieved religious, ethnic or regional sensibility….
“There is only one name for a society that bans and burns books, tears down paintings, attacks cinema halls, and disrupts theatre performances under the sign of an aggressive chauvinism. ‘Fascist' is too gentle a description. The exact name is ‘Nazi',” it notes.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray with son Uddhav and grandson Aditya at the Sena's Dasara rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on October 17.
Rev. Frazer Mascarenhas, Principal of St. Xavier's College, Mumbai (Mistry's alma mater), was among the first to protest when Such a Long Journey was pulled out of the B.A. syllabus. He said: “Literature is a place for debate, for dialogue and for dissent. We are painfully aware that not everything that is written is healthy for keeping up the values our society is built on. The politicisation of textbooks would be a case in point. Similarly the hurting of the religious sentiments of any community is starkly objectionable and needs to be proscribed. All this needs to be done in an atmosphere of dialogue, debate and the rule of law – not the threat of violence.”
When a book is suggested for a syllabus, it goes through a tough screening process, Mascarenhas told Frontline. It enters the curriculum only after the Syllabus Committee and the Board of Studies clear it. He said: “ Such a Long Journey was part of the postgraduate literature course for 10 years. It was selected for the second year B.A. Literature course four years ago, and has been an extremely popular read. It is frustrating to see the Vice-Chancellor take this action.”
If a book had to be removed from the syllabus, the Board of Studies needed to scrutinise the request, he pointed out. At present, all administrative bodies of the University are dissolved as the elections are on. The Vice-Chancellor asked the outgoing Board of Studies to withdraw the book. He was able to do it so quickly because of the current situation, Mascarenhas said.
“This might set a bad precedent,” according to Sudhir Paranjape, a professor at the Indian School of Social Sciences in Mumbai. “We have filed a petition and will hopefully have the book reinstated.”
Both Aditya Thackeray and Ashok Chavan talk about the book's “offensive” language. But the Sena mouthpiece Saamna uses more vulgar language in their articles. Bal Thackeray once famously called other political leaders “eunuchs”.
Dickensian plot
Reviewers of Such a Long Journey compare Mistry to Leo Tolstoy and Charles Dickens owing to his skill in writing realist fiction. The book is set in the 1970s, during Indira Gandhi's rule. Mistry's protagonists invariably are ordinary men and women who struggle against all odds to live in Mumbai, a heaving metropolis even then.
Gustad Noble, a Parsi, is the lead character. He is a bank superviser who is constantly irritated with the black-outs and the deterioration of the city due to the impending Bangladesh war. His singular ambition is to see his son gain admission in an Indian Institute of Technology.
Gustad somehow gets enmeshed in murky financial transactions involving the war, which eventually turn sour and upset his entire world. Through Gustad's world Mistry skilfully constructs the story of a small family living against overwhelming odds. His details of Mumbai are honest and fascinating. Mistry peppers the text with risqué Parsi humour and master prose.
Aditya's challenge
The public crowning of Aditya, son of Uddhav Thackeray, was on October 17 at the Shiv Sena's annual Dasara rally in Mumbai's Shivaji Park. After Bal Thackeray delivered his trademark vitriolic speech to a two-lakh-strong crowd at decibels above permitted levels, he formally handed his grandson a ceremonial sword, making him the head of the newly created Yuva Sena.
But Aditya had already launched himself in true Sena style on September 14, when he spearheaded a Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS) protest against Mistry's book. And he got what he wanted – the withdrawal of the book from the syllabus – without even the semblance of resistance. The campaign against Mistry's book should be seen for what it is – a crude, effective and typical Sena tactic to get attention and, in this case, to launch one more Thackeray into public life. Aditya is a final-year student of B.A. History at St. Xavier's College. Like his father, he is supposed to have an interest in the arts – in photography and poetry.
Three years ago, Aditya's father had hinted about his future in politics when he accompanied the former to a political rally. A year ago, Aditya was even part of a delegation that met former Maharashtra Governor S.C. Jamir to discuss a teachers' strike.
Bal Thackeray is practising what he has always lambasted the Congress for – dynastic politics. First he handed over the mantle to his son Uddhav and now he has initiated his grandson into politics. A police officer observed, “Like many demagogues, Bal Thackeray trusts only those he has control over. It could be that he has knowledge about their activities or it could be blood ties, but he must have some hold over them.”
So where is this new move taking the Sena? The Sena has not been doing well for a long while. Its performance in the last elections was its worst ever. The party never quite recovered since the anointing of Uddhav five years ago, despite some high-profile campaigns such as Mee Mumbaikar to regain lost ground. Uddhav never had and is unlikely to develop the common touch his father has had.
In comparison, his cousin Raj, who lost out in the race for control over the Sena, has done much better with his four-year-old party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Aditya's debut is a counter to Raj and his MNS. His brief is to attract those in the 18-30 age group, who drifted away from the Sena when they saw in Raj some of the fire that had attracted them to Bal Thackeray.
There was no ostensible need to create the Yuva Sena as the Sena already had an active youth wing in the BVS. But the BVS revives bad memories since that was where Raj cut his teeth with some virulent campaigns. The Yuva Sena will help the Sena to sideline the BVS slowly.
Old Sena strongholds in Mumbai now look divided – the Sena's triangular bhagwa flutters on one side of the road and the MNS' orange, blue and green striped flag on the other. Even the flags and their designs are so telling of the two parties. The Sena's is traditional and appeals to an earlier generation that included mill workers and the lower middle class. The MNS' is modern and flexible – the canny Raj and his savvy team have put it to a variety of uses as banners, bumper stickers, mobile phone wallpapers and T-shirts.
Much of the Sena's ‘roar' (its iconic mascot being the tiger) had come from Bal Thackeray, who is now 83 years old and ailing. Thackeray was supported and bolstered by what can now be referred to as the old guard of the Sena – men like Pramod Navalkar, Datta Nalawade and Sudhir Joshi. Uddhav has no such support; neither does Aditya.
Until the Sena came to power in 1995, it had the luxury of truant behaviour – protesting violently and feeding off the common man's prejudices and sense of injustice. Once it began sharing power with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Sena was forced to abandon its unruly side. Instead, it fell easy prey to the corruption of public political life.
Though the elation of having their party elected to government never quite left its supporters, there was a change in the party's support base. Disillusionment set in when its supporters felt the party did little to take its Marathi credo forward.
Uddhav was never quite able to whitewash this taint, nor could he take the party forward. The Sena has been in limbo for some years and it now looks like the party is looking to a 20-year-old novice to shoulder the challenge of resurrecting it.
| |
Day long Convention in Lucknow on the Ayodhya verdict (29 November 2010)
UDAAS MAUSAM KE KHILAF
CONVENTION IN LUCKNOW
The Ayodhya verdict of September 30 constitutes a dangerous precedent, which can be used against any vulnerable group in future, like any minority, Dalits, Tribals and women. For almost 500 years, Muslims had worshipped routinely in the Babri Mosque, while Hindus worshipped at the Ram Chabutra in the open area adjacent to the mosque, in a spirit of mutual goodwill. With this judgment, the movement which challenged India’s secular Constitution and took hundreds of lives, and fostered fear and hate has triumphed.
This movement demanding that a grand Ram Temple should be built on the site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood is often understood to be a clash between Hindus and Muslims. There is indeed no such clash, and there never has been. It has always been a dispute between two alternate visions of India; between Hindutva and secularism; between a minority of persons unreconciled to the secular democratic idea of India, and the majority of Indians of every faith who believe in and live this idea.
The judgement reopens again the question about the terms on which people of minority faiths would have to relate to cultural domination of the religious majority. In effect, it interrogates the guarantees of the Indian Constitution, which pledged equal rights and equal protection of all persons, regardless of their religious persuasion. There is a need both in courts of law, but more importantly in the arenas of society and the polity, to battle for the restoration of the values of the freedom struggle, and the Constitution which the people of India gave themselves.
ANHAD and INSAF are calling for a Convention on November 29, 2010 in Lucknow.
We invite you to the convention.
November 29, 2010
Time: 10am-5pm
Venue: Ravindralaya, Opp Charbagh Railway Station, Lucknow
SPEAKERS:
ANIL CHAUDHURY, ANUPAM GUPTA, PROF. APOORVANAND, FARAH NAQVI, JOHN DAYAL, MUDRARAKSHAS, PROF KM SHRIMALI, PROF KN PANIKKAR, PROF RAM PUNIYANI, PROF ROOPREKHA VERMA, PROF ZOYA HASAN, PROF. RAMESH DIXIT, SHEETLA SINGH, SIDDHARTH VARDARAJAN, VINEET TIWARI
SHABNAM HASHMI/ ANIL CHOUDHURY
ANHAD/ INSAF
23, CANNING LANE, NEW DELHI-110001
TEL: 9415470610/ 9818809018
CONVENTION IN LUCKNOW
The Ayodhya verdict of September 30 constitutes a dangerous precedent, which can be used against any vulnerable group in future, like any minority, Dalits, Tribals and women. For almost 500 years, Muslims had worshipped routinely in the Babri Mosque, while Hindus worshipped at the Ram Chabutra in the open area adjacent to the mosque, in a spirit of mutual goodwill. With this judgment, the movement which challenged India’s secular Constitution and took hundreds of lives, and fostered fear and hate has triumphed.
This movement demanding that a grand Ram Temple should be built on the site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood is often understood to be a clash between Hindus and Muslims. There is indeed no such clash, and there never has been. It has always been a dispute between two alternate visions of India; between Hindutva and secularism; between a minority of persons unreconciled to the secular democratic idea of India, and the majority of Indians of every faith who believe in and live this idea.
The judgement reopens again the question about the terms on which people of minority faiths would have to relate to cultural domination of the religious majority. In effect, it interrogates the guarantees of the Indian Constitution, which pledged equal rights and equal protection of all persons, regardless of their religious persuasion. There is a need both in courts of law, but more importantly in the arenas of society and the polity, to battle for the restoration of the values of the freedom struggle, and the Constitution which the people of India gave themselves.
ANHAD and INSAF are calling for a Convention on November 29, 2010 in Lucknow.
We invite you to the convention.
November 29, 2010
Time: 10am-5pm
Venue: Ravindralaya, Opp Charbagh Railway Station, Lucknow
SPEAKERS:
ANIL CHAUDHURY, ANUPAM GUPTA, PROF. APOORVANAND, FARAH NAQVI, JOHN DAYAL, MUDRARAKSHAS, PROF KM SHRIMALI, PROF KN PANIKKAR, PROF RAM PUNIYANI, PROF ROOPREKHA VERMA, PROF ZOYA HASAN, PROF. RAMESH DIXIT, SHEETLA SINGH, SIDDHARTH VARDARAJAN, VINEET TIWARI
SHABNAM HASHMI/ ANIL CHOUDHURY
ANHAD/ INSAF
23, CANNING LANE, NEW DELHI-110001
TEL: 9415470610/ 9818809018
November 12, 2010
Statement by participants of European anti-fascist conference in St.Petersburg
Statement by participants of the conference “Xenophobia, neo-fascism and
anti-fascism in the present-day social context” and of the “Prague Spring
II” European network
On November 3, 2010 the conference “Xenophobia, neo-fascism and anti-fascism in the present-day social context” was held in St.Petersburg, concerned with the increase of xenophobic, racist, and far right trends, and ways and methods of resisting them, in Western, Central European and post-Soviet countries. The conference participants from Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Austria discussed different aspects of these problems that are becoming more and more urgent when crises are growing in the society, with their main burden being put on the broad masses of the population by the policies implemented by the dominating groups.
The conference took place during the all-European action by the “UNITED for Intercultural Action” network that is held around November 9, the date of the Nazi anti-Semitic pogroms (“Kristallnacht”) in 1938, and on the eve of November 4, the “People’s Unity Day” in Russia, an official holiday declaring “unity” of all the people of Russia with the dominating groups in the name of a “statist-patriotic” ideology, and at the same time, celebrated by neo-Nazi and far right groups as their own high day.
Against the background of social problems unsolvable under the current policies shaped by the state and big business, xenophobic and racist attitudes are on the rise in Russia, and far right tendencies are a real danger. The government policies generate conditions for the rise of far right, and independent social movements, including the anti-fascist movement, regularly face police repression.
On the day of the conference, November 3, just before the “Unity Day”, a group of men from the “anti-extremist” department of St.Petersburg police broke into the apartment of one of activists of the anti-fascist movement, who is also one of organizers of the “Defend the city of fascism!” rally, a counteraction to neo-Nazi events on November 4. A search was conducted, with outrageous violations of law. The search warrant cited charges against one activist who stayed in the apartment, Rinat Sultanov, of causing “grave bodily injury” to some person in 2008. Under this pretext, the police broke the door of the apartment, beat everybody present and took away computers, documents and materials prepared for the next day’s antifascist rally meeting (leaflets, banners, etc.). Rinat Sultanov (together with another activist who was freed afterwards) was detained and still remains in custody.
However, despite the intimidation, the “Defend the city of fascism!” rally was held successfully on November 4.
These actions by authorities show the real value of official declarations of “unity” of all the people with the government.
Characteristically, this act of intimidation is directed namely against those activists of the anti-fascist movement who are most oriented towards public anti-fascist action and co-operation with a broader spectrum of social movements.
We express our solidarity with anti-fascist activists of St.Petersburg and across Russia that are under police pressure and attacks by the far right.
We demand to stop immediately the intimidation and persecution campaign against anti-fascist activists of St.Petersburg and across Russia, and to release Rinat Sultanov.
As the fight against the international far right threat must be conducted at the international level, we’ll intensify our international ties and prepare new common activities, including information exchanges, conferences and other public events, and solidarity actions.
Hermann Dworczak, Igor Gotlib, Arthur Saudins, Victor Shapinov, Marcin Starnawski,
Ekaterina Vargina
anti-fascism in the present-day social context” and of the “Prague Spring
II” European network
On November 3, 2010 the conference “Xenophobia, neo-fascism and anti-fascism in the present-day social context” was held in St.Petersburg, concerned with the increase of xenophobic, racist, and far right trends, and ways and methods of resisting them, in Western, Central European and post-Soviet countries. The conference participants from Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Austria discussed different aspects of these problems that are becoming more and more urgent when crises are growing in the society, with their main burden being put on the broad masses of the population by the policies implemented by the dominating groups.
The conference took place during the all-European action by the “UNITED for Intercultural Action” network that is held around November 9, the date of the Nazi anti-Semitic pogroms (“Kristallnacht”) in 1938, and on the eve of November 4, the “People’s Unity Day” in Russia, an official holiday declaring “unity” of all the people of Russia with the dominating groups in the name of a “statist-patriotic” ideology, and at the same time, celebrated by neo-Nazi and far right groups as their own high day.
Against the background of social problems unsolvable under the current policies shaped by the state and big business, xenophobic and racist attitudes are on the rise in Russia, and far right tendencies are a real danger. The government policies generate conditions for the rise of far right, and independent social movements, including the anti-fascist movement, regularly face police repression.
On the day of the conference, November 3, just before the “Unity Day”, a group of men from the “anti-extremist” department of St.Petersburg police broke into the apartment of one of activists of the anti-fascist movement, who is also one of organizers of the “Defend the city of fascism!” rally, a counteraction to neo-Nazi events on November 4. A search was conducted, with outrageous violations of law. The search warrant cited charges against one activist who stayed in the apartment, Rinat Sultanov, of causing “grave bodily injury” to some person in 2008. Under this pretext, the police broke the door of the apartment, beat everybody present and took away computers, documents and materials prepared for the next day’s antifascist rally meeting (leaflets, banners, etc.). Rinat Sultanov (together with another activist who was freed afterwards) was detained and still remains in custody.
However, despite the intimidation, the “Defend the city of fascism!” rally was held successfully on November 4.
These actions by authorities show the real value of official declarations of “unity” of all the people with the government.
Characteristically, this act of intimidation is directed namely against those activists of the anti-fascist movement who are most oriented towards public anti-fascist action and co-operation with a broader spectrum of social movements.
We express our solidarity with anti-fascist activists of St.Petersburg and across Russia that are under police pressure and attacks by the far right.
We demand to stop immediately the intimidation and persecution campaign against anti-fascist activists of St.Petersburg and across Russia, and to release Rinat Sultanov.
As the fight against the international far right threat must be conducted at the international level, we’ll intensify our international ties and prepare new common activities, including information exchanges, conferences and other public events, and solidarity actions.
Hermann Dworczak, Igor Gotlib, Arthur Saudins, Victor Shapinov, Marcin Starnawski,
Ekaterina Vargina
Anguish of Kashmiri People
Anguish of Kashmiri People: are we listening?
Ram Puniyani
Statement of Arundhati Roy (Nov 2010), that Kashmir is not a part of India, did raise more than storm in a tea cup. The BJP demanded that court case should be initiated against her, BJP affiliate Mahila Morcha vandalized her house in Delhi and BJP’s storm troopers, Bajarang Dal, threatened her in various ways. This statement came as a shock to many and talk of arresting her under the charge of sedition was in the air for some time. One knows that Kashmir has become a raw nerve in the emotional make up of the large section of people for various reasons. There may be lot of differences with Roy on the solution of Kashmir problem, but two points need to be noted and conceded. Number one, Kashmir never merged with India as it only ‘acceded’ with the proviso of total autonomy except in the matters of defense, communication, currency and external affairs. And two that the statement of Roy and her other writings and speeches on the issue of Kashmir show the pain and anguish of Kashmiri people as a whole.
The attacks and criticism of Roy are based on the ignorance about the history of accession of Kashmir to India. The ultra nationalists groups, especially the one’s who are followers of the ideology of Religion based nationalism, and a thinking of a section of people is guided by a sort of patriotism, blinded by emotion. This patriotism wants to put the problems of people under the carpet. How did Kashmir Accede to India? One does remember that there were many princely states at the time of Independence. Most of these states were merged into India barring the ones of Junagadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir. The mandate to princes was that they are free to merge with either India or Pakistan but while taking such a decision they should keep the feelings of there subjects and consider their geographical location. The princes of these three states had their own calculations in not merging in to India.
Junagadh Nawab wanted to merge with Pakistan. Nizam Hyderabad wanted to remain independent or at worse merge with Pakistan. Pakistan offered more powers to the princes. Geographically also merger of Junagadh and Hyderabad was a bit out of the place their borders were not contiguous with border of Pakistan, and the composition of population of the percentage of Hindu population in these states was overwhelming. India closed the chapter in these states by military means.
Kashmir was uniquely located in an area which had proximity to Pakistan and India both, it had large communication with Pakistan and 80% of its population was Muslim, fitting well into the scheme of ‘Two nation theory’ of communalists.
Maharaja Harisingh refused to merge with either country. Pakistani army disguised as tribal invaded Kashmir. The difference in Kashmir was the presence of movement of National Conference which was very secular and its leader Sheikh Abdullah recognized the comparatively stronger presence of feudal sections in Pakistan ruling classes. Maharaja Harisingh when faced with the aggression left for Jammu for his safety and sent his emissary to Delhi to request India to send army to dispel the aggression from Pakistan soil. Indian Government wanted to have an agreement before sending the army. It’s here that treaty of accession (not merger) was devised giving full autonomy to Kashmir except in the matters of defense, communication, currency and external affairs. By the time Indian army began its work, 1/3 Kashmir was already occupied by the Pakistan army. Ceasefire followed and later Indian part of Kashmir went on to have elections, Sheikh Abdullah becoming its first Prime Minister (not Chief Minister).
To understand the plight of Kashmiris, Pundits included, the issues one needs to focus are, as to how the US had designs to dominate this area through the proxy of Pakistan, were operating all through. This was the major determining factor for things which happened in this region. Kashmir was Central to US anti Communist strategies- Russia on one side China on the other. US kept supporting Pakistan through and through to keep its presence in the area and to keep the issue on the boil. On this side of the border the communal elements were assertive and demanded for full merger of Kashmir into India. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Bhartiya Jansangh, the previous avatar of BJP was very vociferous in demanding this total merger.
Shiekh Abdullah’s trust in Indian republic’s secular values was shaken with the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Sheikh had great faith in the secularism of India, in Gandhi and Nehru. After Gandhi murder and the pressure built by communalists to forcibly merge Kashmir into India further disturbed Sheikh Abdullah. He started introspecting whether it was a mistake to accede to India. Nehru at this point of time was saying that what is important is to win over the hearts of Kashmiris, while ultra nationalists, pseudo nationalists, wanted to forcible merge Kashmir into India. Sheikh Abdullah started talking to US ambassador and also with China on the other. Under pressure of Nehru got Sheikh Abdullah arrested and put him behind bars, starting the process of alienation of Kashmiri people at large.
Later Pakistan backed by US played its own role in encouraging the dissident sections and by helping them in all the ways. The problem really got worse due to the entry of Al Qaeda in the decades of 1980s. With their warped training of distorted version of Jihad and Kafir, in the Madrassas set up by US, to train Al Qaeda, the situation got communalized. It worsened the situation by communalizing the issue and by playing politics in the name of Islam.
Indian army did the rest. Starting from trying to curb militancy, it entrenched itself in to the civilian life of Kashmir. So many incidents of killings of innocents at the hands of army have taken place. Brutality of army is disguised as defense of Nation. Army lives with the dictum that power flows through the barrel of the gun. This dictum is glaringly obvious when army stays there for long enough time in a civilian area. This army occupation acts as a trigger to further alienate the people of the region. Victims of army’s highhandedness are the innocents of the region, women and children suffering the worst ignominies. The process of violation of civic norms and disruption of civic life has led to a situation where the average helpless person vents his anger by throwing the stones.
Kashmir is a vexed issue defying easy solution due multiple interested parties. US backed Pakistan army, the intense pain and suffering of people of Kashmir at the hands of militants and army, both. There is a need to respect the expression of pain and anguish of Kashmiri people. Dialogue within and outside, reduction of army’s presence, deepening democracy and understanding the complex logic of the area is what could sooth the wounded psyche of Kashmir. The aggressive reaction of the type manifested by politics wearing the clothes of religion will add salt to the wounds and worsen the problem rather than contributing anything to its resolution. Layers of democracy, within the state need to be strived for and people’s voices of dissent need to be listened carefully rather than insulted and blindly opposed without understanding the logic of their statements and suffering of the people of Kashmir.
--
Ram Puniyani
Statement of Arundhati Roy (Nov 2010), that Kashmir is not a part of India, did raise more than storm in a tea cup. The BJP demanded that court case should be initiated against her, BJP affiliate Mahila Morcha vandalized her house in Delhi and BJP’s storm troopers, Bajarang Dal, threatened her in various ways. This statement came as a shock to many and talk of arresting her under the charge of sedition was in the air for some time. One knows that Kashmir has become a raw nerve in the emotional make up of the large section of people for various reasons. There may be lot of differences with Roy on the solution of Kashmir problem, but two points need to be noted and conceded. Number one, Kashmir never merged with India as it only ‘acceded’ with the proviso of total autonomy except in the matters of defense, communication, currency and external affairs. And two that the statement of Roy and her other writings and speeches on the issue of Kashmir show the pain and anguish of Kashmiri people as a whole.
The attacks and criticism of Roy are based on the ignorance about the history of accession of Kashmir to India. The ultra nationalists groups, especially the one’s who are followers of the ideology of Religion based nationalism, and a thinking of a section of people is guided by a sort of patriotism, blinded by emotion. This patriotism wants to put the problems of people under the carpet. How did Kashmir Accede to India? One does remember that there were many princely states at the time of Independence. Most of these states were merged into India barring the ones of Junagadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir. The mandate to princes was that they are free to merge with either India or Pakistan but while taking such a decision they should keep the feelings of there subjects and consider their geographical location. The princes of these three states had their own calculations in not merging in to India.
Junagadh Nawab wanted to merge with Pakistan. Nizam Hyderabad wanted to remain independent or at worse merge with Pakistan. Pakistan offered more powers to the princes. Geographically also merger of Junagadh and Hyderabad was a bit out of the place their borders were not contiguous with border of Pakistan, and the composition of population of the percentage of Hindu population in these states was overwhelming. India closed the chapter in these states by military means.
Kashmir was uniquely located in an area which had proximity to Pakistan and India both, it had large communication with Pakistan and 80% of its population was Muslim, fitting well into the scheme of ‘Two nation theory’ of communalists.
Maharaja Harisingh refused to merge with either country. Pakistani army disguised as tribal invaded Kashmir. The difference in Kashmir was the presence of movement of National Conference which was very secular and its leader Sheikh Abdullah recognized the comparatively stronger presence of feudal sections in Pakistan ruling classes. Maharaja Harisingh when faced with the aggression left for Jammu for his safety and sent his emissary to Delhi to request India to send army to dispel the aggression from Pakistan soil. Indian Government wanted to have an agreement before sending the army. It’s here that treaty of accession (not merger) was devised giving full autonomy to Kashmir except in the matters of defense, communication, currency and external affairs. By the time Indian army began its work, 1/3 Kashmir was already occupied by the Pakistan army. Ceasefire followed and later Indian part of Kashmir went on to have elections, Sheikh Abdullah becoming its first Prime Minister (not Chief Minister).
To understand the plight of Kashmiris, Pundits included, the issues one needs to focus are, as to how the US had designs to dominate this area through the proxy of Pakistan, were operating all through. This was the major determining factor for things which happened in this region. Kashmir was Central to US anti Communist strategies- Russia on one side China on the other. US kept supporting Pakistan through and through to keep its presence in the area and to keep the issue on the boil. On this side of the border the communal elements were assertive and demanded for full merger of Kashmir into India. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Bhartiya Jansangh, the previous avatar of BJP was very vociferous in demanding this total merger.
Shiekh Abdullah’s trust in Indian republic’s secular values was shaken with the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Sheikh had great faith in the secularism of India, in Gandhi and Nehru. After Gandhi murder and the pressure built by communalists to forcibly merge Kashmir into India further disturbed Sheikh Abdullah. He started introspecting whether it was a mistake to accede to India. Nehru at this point of time was saying that what is important is to win over the hearts of Kashmiris, while ultra nationalists, pseudo nationalists, wanted to forcible merge Kashmir into India. Sheikh Abdullah started talking to US ambassador and also with China on the other. Under pressure of Nehru got Sheikh Abdullah arrested and put him behind bars, starting the process of alienation of Kashmiri people at large.
Later Pakistan backed by US played its own role in encouraging the dissident sections and by helping them in all the ways. The problem really got worse due to the entry of Al Qaeda in the decades of 1980s. With their warped training of distorted version of Jihad and Kafir, in the Madrassas set up by US, to train Al Qaeda, the situation got communalized. It worsened the situation by communalizing the issue and by playing politics in the name of Islam.
Indian army did the rest. Starting from trying to curb militancy, it entrenched itself in to the civilian life of Kashmir. So many incidents of killings of innocents at the hands of army have taken place. Brutality of army is disguised as defense of Nation. Army lives with the dictum that power flows through the barrel of the gun. This dictum is glaringly obvious when army stays there for long enough time in a civilian area. This army occupation acts as a trigger to further alienate the people of the region. Victims of army’s highhandedness are the innocents of the region, women and children suffering the worst ignominies. The process of violation of civic norms and disruption of civic life has led to a situation where the average helpless person vents his anger by throwing the stones.
Kashmir is a vexed issue defying easy solution due multiple interested parties. US backed Pakistan army, the intense pain and suffering of people of Kashmir at the hands of militants and army, both. There is a need to respect the expression of pain and anguish of Kashmiri people. Dialogue within and outside, reduction of army’s presence, deepening democracy and understanding the complex logic of the area is what could sooth the wounded psyche of Kashmir. The aggressive reaction of the type manifested by politics wearing the clothes of religion will add salt to the wounds and worsen the problem rather than contributing anything to its resolution. Layers of democracy, within the state need to be strived for and people’s voices of dissent need to be listened carefully rather than insulted and blindly opposed without understanding the logic of their statements and suffering of the people of Kashmir.
--
People's Democracy Editorial on RSS’s Terror Links
People's Democracy, No. 45
November 07, 2010
Editorial
RSS’s Terror Links
WITH increasing evidence surfacing on the involvement of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) linked people in terror attacks, the RSS appears to have adopted the policy of `offence as the best form of defence’. It has called for nationwide protest actions on November 10 with the participation of its topmost leaders. More on this later.
Media reports revealed that senior leader Indresh Kumar is not the only RSS link to the Ajmer terrorist blast of October 11, 2007. Though Indresh Kumar is named in the chargesheet, he was not named as an accused. However, of the five accused named in the chargesheet filed by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on October 22, 2010, four are reportedly associated with the RSS. A sixth alleged key conspirator who has not been named as an accused only because he is dead, also had RSS connections.
A few weeks after the Malegaon terrorist bomb blast (September 8, 2008), the Maharashtra ATS arrested several people including a Sadhvi and an army officer. This was the first instance in recent times of arrests of people belonging to Hindutva rightwing organisations on charges of anti-national terrorist activities. It is on the basis of subsequent investigations by the CBI and the Rajasthan ATS that the current chargesheet has been framed and filed. Links have been suggested between the Ajmer blasts and the terrorist attacks in the Mecca Masjid at Hyderabad on May 18, 2007. The needle of suspicion also points to the links of the accused in the terrorist attack on the Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express on February 18, 2007.
Soon after the Malegaon blasts, at a meeting of the National Integration Council on October 13, 2008, the CPI(M) in its submission drew the attention of the government to the following: “Police investigations in the past few years have noted the involvement of Bajrang Dal or other RSS organisations in various bomb blasts across the country – in 2003, in Parbani, Jalna and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra; in 2005, in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh; in 2006, in Nanded; in January 2008, at the RSS office in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli; in August 2008, in Kanpur etc.” The CPI(M) had urged the government that all these incidents must be thoroughly investigated and the culprits must be booked.
Initially, after the Malegaon arrests, the RSS had reacted in its typical fashion of disowning those arrested. The All India Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, Manmohan Vaidya, had then told the media, “They might have drawn their inspiration from the Sangh ideology but they were not active Sangh members.” This is nothing original. This is precisely what was said about Nathuram Godse following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Godse’s brother, however, is on record in an interview to the media, saying that all the brothers in the family were members of the RSS. Some others hold that fringe elements of Hindu fundamentalism, impatient with the political tactics of compromising on core Hindutva issues, are resorting to such terrorist activities. In a similar vein, some other RSS leaders admit to the media that a few `deviant elements’ might have turned to violence and terror but insist that the organisation as a whole cannot be dubbed terrorist. Again, a replication of the RSS stand during the trial of Mahatma Gandhi’s murder. On this basis of such reasoning, the RSS had then said that “terrorism should be dealt with strongly”.
However, now with the latest chargesheets framed and filed clearly establishing their links to these terror attacks, the RSS has changed gear calling for countrywide protests against it being linked to terrorist activities. At a three-day conclave of its Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal that ended at Jalgaon on October 31, it called for such protests with the participation of its chief in Lucknow and its general secretary in Hyderabad. In a threatening tone, the general secretary said such linking of RSS with terrorism is “resented by Hindu society” and any attempt to defame the “nationalist” RSS will not be tolerated. Clearly, these protests are aimed at pressurising the governments and the investigation agencies from proceeding further.
In these columns, we have repeatedly stated and continue to maintain that terrorism is simply anti-national and, hence, the country should display zero tolerance. Terrorism has no religion. Terrorism of all varieties only feed and strengthen each other seeking to destroy the very unity and integrity of our country. Therefore, the current investigations must proceed unhindered in the interests of our country and action must be taken against individuals and organisations found guilty.
November 07, 2010
Editorial
RSS’s Terror Links
WITH increasing evidence surfacing on the involvement of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) linked people in terror attacks, the RSS appears to have adopted the policy of `offence as the best form of defence’. It has called for nationwide protest actions on November 10 with the participation of its topmost leaders. More on this later.
Media reports revealed that senior leader Indresh Kumar is not the only RSS link to the Ajmer terrorist blast of October 11, 2007. Though Indresh Kumar is named in the chargesheet, he was not named as an accused. However, of the five accused named in the chargesheet filed by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on October 22, 2010, four are reportedly associated with the RSS. A sixth alleged key conspirator who has not been named as an accused only because he is dead, also had RSS connections.
A few weeks after the Malegaon terrorist bomb blast (September 8, 2008), the Maharashtra ATS arrested several people including a Sadhvi and an army officer. This was the first instance in recent times of arrests of people belonging to Hindutva rightwing organisations on charges of anti-national terrorist activities. It is on the basis of subsequent investigations by the CBI and the Rajasthan ATS that the current chargesheet has been framed and filed. Links have been suggested between the Ajmer blasts and the terrorist attacks in the Mecca Masjid at Hyderabad on May 18, 2007. The needle of suspicion also points to the links of the accused in the terrorist attack on the Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express on February 18, 2007.
Soon after the Malegaon blasts, at a meeting of the National Integration Council on October 13, 2008, the CPI(M) in its submission drew the attention of the government to the following: “Police investigations in the past few years have noted the involvement of Bajrang Dal or other RSS organisations in various bomb blasts across the country – in 2003, in Parbani, Jalna and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra; in 2005, in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh; in 2006, in Nanded; in January 2008, at the RSS office in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli; in August 2008, in Kanpur etc.” The CPI(M) had urged the government that all these incidents must be thoroughly investigated and the culprits must be booked.
Initially, after the Malegaon arrests, the RSS had reacted in its typical fashion of disowning those arrested. The All India Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, Manmohan Vaidya, had then told the media, “They might have drawn their inspiration from the Sangh ideology but they were not active Sangh members.” This is nothing original. This is precisely what was said about Nathuram Godse following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Godse’s brother, however, is on record in an interview to the media, saying that all the brothers in the family were members of the RSS. Some others hold that fringe elements of Hindu fundamentalism, impatient with the political tactics of compromising on core Hindutva issues, are resorting to such terrorist activities. In a similar vein, some other RSS leaders admit to the media that a few `deviant elements’ might have turned to violence and terror but insist that the organisation as a whole cannot be dubbed terrorist. Again, a replication of the RSS stand during the trial of Mahatma Gandhi’s murder. On this basis of such reasoning, the RSS had then said that “terrorism should be dealt with strongly”.
However, now with the latest chargesheets framed and filed clearly establishing their links to these terror attacks, the RSS has changed gear calling for countrywide protests against it being linked to terrorist activities. At a three-day conclave of its Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal that ended at Jalgaon on October 31, it called for such protests with the participation of its chief in Lucknow and its general secretary in Hyderabad. In a threatening tone, the general secretary said such linking of RSS with terrorism is “resented by Hindu society” and any attempt to defame the “nationalist” RSS will not be tolerated. Clearly, these protests are aimed at pressurising the governments and the investigation agencies from proceeding further.
In these columns, we have repeatedly stated and continue to maintain that terrorism is simply anti-national and, hence, the country should display zero tolerance. Terrorism has no religion. Terrorism of all varieties only feed and strengthen each other seeking to destroy the very unity and integrity of our country. Therefore, the current investigations must proceed unhindered in the interests of our country and action must be taken against individuals and organisations found guilty.
November 02, 2010
November 01, 2010
How the RSS activists assembled the bombs used in Ajmer blasts
Mail Today, 1 November 2010
Ajmer bomb made at fugitive’s house
By Dalip Singh in New Delhi
THE FOUR mobile phone- triggered pipe bombs used in Ajmer Sharif and Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid blasts were assembled at fugitive accused Ramji Kalsangra’s house in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
The chargesheet filed by Rajasthan’s anti- terrorism squad ( ATS) in a Jaipur court on Friday says the four bombs were assembled by Kalsangra, another absconding accused Sandeep Dange and Sunil Joshi, the suspected mastermind of the blasts who was killed.
All the three men have served the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh ( RSS) in various capacities.
Two bombs each were used in the blasts at Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007, and in Ajmer on October 11 the same year.
Investigations have revealed that the task of gathering information to make the bombs was assigned to Kalsangra and Dange, since they had technical knowledge given their academic qualification.
While Dange graduated in engineering from a government college in Indore, Kalsangra was an electrician by profession. He did his diploma from a Mumbai ITI. Sometime in 2004- 2005, the duo had got training in making bombs from members of the saffron terror module in Pune.
RSS pracharak Devender Gupta, who is behind bars for his role in both the blasts, is alleged to have procured detonators for the pipe- bombs and kept them initially at his Mihijam house in Dumka district of Jharkhand.
On forged identities, he along with Joshi procured 11 SIMs and eight mobile phones for the blasts.
The forensic examination of the unexploded improvised explosive device ( IEDs) used at the two places revealed that sulphur, chlorate, nitrate, potassium and tri- nitro toluene were mixed and stuffed in black- coloured cylindrical pipes of two- inch diameter.
These were wired to circuit boards and attached to detonators that were triggered through cell- phones that had ‘ vande mataram ’ as screen savers.
Of the four IEDs planted, one bomb each failed to go off at both the places, giving investigators the vital lead to unravel the entire terror plot.
The chemicals were wrapped in a newspaper and put in pipes. Both had identical printed circuit board, which was attached to batteries packed in black plastic coverings, the ATS chargesheet says.
The CBI probe has also confirmed the ATS findings.
Sources said the blast timings and numbering on the bombs used at the two sites were scribbled in Hindi. The CBI investigators traced the writing to Kalsangra. This was confirmed when CBI sleuths interrogated his brother, who is behind the bars for his alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts.
However, the investigators are still to zero in on the sources of funding for the blasts. The ATS chargesheet also does not throw any light on this.
Ajmer bomb made at fugitive’s house
By Dalip Singh in New Delhi
THE FOUR mobile phone- triggered pipe bombs used in Ajmer Sharif and Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid blasts were assembled at fugitive accused Ramji Kalsangra’s house in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
The chargesheet filed by Rajasthan’s anti- terrorism squad ( ATS) in a Jaipur court on Friday says the four bombs were assembled by Kalsangra, another absconding accused Sandeep Dange and Sunil Joshi, the suspected mastermind of the blasts who was killed.
All the three men have served the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh ( RSS) in various capacities.
Two bombs each were used in the blasts at Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007, and in Ajmer on October 11 the same year.
Investigations have revealed that the task of gathering information to make the bombs was assigned to Kalsangra and Dange, since they had technical knowledge given their academic qualification.
While Dange graduated in engineering from a government college in Indore, Kalsangra was an electrician by profession. He did his diploma from a Mumbai ITI. Sometime in 2004- 2005, the duo had got training in making bombs from members of the saffron terror module in Pune.
RSS pracharak Devender Gupta, who is behind bars for his role in both the blasts, is alleged to have procured detonators for the pipe- bombs and kept them initially at his Mihijam house in Dumka district of Jharkhand.
On forged identities, he along with Joshi procured 11 SIMs and eight mobile phones for the blasts.
The forensic examination of the unexploded improvised explosive device ( IEDs) used at the two places revealed that sulphur, chlorate, nitrate, potassium and tri- nitro toluene were mixed and stuffed in black- coloured cylindrical pipes of two- inch diameter.
These were wired to circuit boards and attached to detonators that were triggered through cell- phones that had ‘ vande mataram ’ as screen savers.
Of the four IEDs planted, one bomb each failed to go off at both the places, giving investigators the vital lead to unravel the entire terror plot.
The chemicals were wrapped in a newspaper and put in pipes. Both had identical printed circuit board, which was attached to batteries packed in black plastic coverings, the ATS chargesheet says.
The CBI probe has also confirmed the ATS findings.
Sources said the blast timings and numbering on the bombs used at the two sites were scribbled in Hindi. The CBI investigators traced the writing to Kalsangra. This was confirmed when CBI sleuths interrogated his brother, who is behind the bars for his alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts.
However, the investigators are still to zero in on the sources of funding for the blasts. The ATS chargesheet also does not throw any light on this.
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