Jyeshtha 2 Vik Samvat 2066. Yugabda 5111, 16 May 2009

1. FESTIVALS: Coronation of Shivaji is a unique event in Bharatiya history. The coronation took place on Jyeshtha Shuddha Trayodashi - Aananda Samvatsar of the Shalivahaver era 1596 (or Vikram Era 1731). The day corresponds to June 7 this year. The secret of Shivaji's success lay chiefly in motivating the people to strive and sacrifice for the establishment of a free Hindu State and not for the sake of any individual king or chieftain. Shivaji infused in the Hindu society a new and dynamic religious cum social vision by removing the ostracization of the converts to Islam and welcoming them back to parental Hindu fold. The motto Shivaji inscribed on his coin even at the early stage of his endevours amply reflects the age-old Hindu ideal pulsating in Shivaji's mind-
Pratipatchandralekheva Vardhishnurvishwavanditaa
Shaahasoonosshivasyaisha mudraa bhadraaya raajate
2. 1ST NEW ZEALAND HINDU YOUTH CONFERENCE: The Hindu Youth Foundation, a division of the Hindu Council of New Zealand Inc, organised the 1st NZ Hindu Youth Conference at the Hindu Heritage Centre, Mangere, Auckland on 2nd May 2009. The theme of the youth conference was "Living in Modern New Zealand with Traditional Values".
More than 130 delegates participated in the youth conference. Six parliamentarians including Hon. Pansy Wong, the Minister for Ethnic Affairs & the Minister of Women's Affairs; Hon. Phil Goff, Leader (Labour Party), Leader of the Opposition, and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Hon. Chirs Carter, the former Minister for Ethnic Affairs & the Minister of Education; and the Members of Parliament Dr Rajen Prasad, Kanwaljit-Singh Bakshi, and Su'a William Sio, participated in the inaugural session. There were also a number of special invitees (Government and non-government agencies), community and business leaders, and members of the Hindu Elders Foundation who participated in this event. Their participation has been heart warming and boosted the morale of Hindu youth. The buzz at the Conference was that Positive development of Hindu youth is vital towards building a stronger and more dynamic New Zealand society.
Speeches given by youth leaders Meena Lakshmanan, Nikita Sharma and Deepal Singh were well received and drew enthusiastic applause from the audience.
All speakers praised the efforts of the Hindu youth leadership in terms of putting the conference together, and for their positive contributions for the overall development of the country.
The conference was designed to be informative. The topics of discussion during the workshops were Bullying; Mental health & wellbeing of Hindu youth; Youth leadership; and integration of Hindu and New Zealand cultures.
The discussion panel during the conference provided an opportunity for the youth to network, and discuss their concerns/issues directly with government agencies and other service providers. The New Zealand Hindu Students Forum, for university students, was launched during the conference.
3. PAUSE, REVIEW, RESUME: BJP should prepare for long haul: Following the BJP’s stunning defeat in the Lok Sabha election, it has been suggested that the party faces an ‘existential dilemma’. That’s a rather severe judgement, although with a tally that is lower than what it scored in 1991 and way behind the target it had set for itself in this election, anything less harsh may appear to be misplaced sympathy. The commentariat will no doubt cite several reasons to explain why the BJP lost the race. We have heard these reasons earlier. Had the BJP won this election, then those very reasons — among them the party’s declared candidate for the Prime Minister’s job — would be cited as having played a decisive role in propelling it to power. Hence, there really is no percentage in agonising over what pundits doling out instant analysis and critics gloating over the BJP’s loss have to say in newspapers and news channels. The party has been obsessed with securing media endorsement for far too long without achieving any success; this is a self-defeating exercise that needlessly saps energy and distracts attention from real issues that require urgent attention. Nor will any purpose be served if the BJP’s leaders were to indulge in self-flagellation and mutual recrimination, whether in the privacy of conference rooms or before gleeful mediapersons. Let the BJP not take on the task of providing grist to the media’s mills. That way does not lie the path to serious introspection, which alone can convince the party’s strategists where exactly they have gone wrong, and corrective action, which has been long overdue in the manner the party organisation functions.
In the past, the BJP has skirted any serious internal bare-all discussion, ostensibly to prevent the exchange of acrimonious words. But this presumption — that any open and free discussion on the party’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities behind closed doors will hurt the feelings of individuals — is not only wrong but also damaging for the party. What this has resulted in is there for all to see. Yet, none of the problems, ranging from indiscipline to indifferent performance of elected representatives, which the party faces is insurmountable. They require discussion and deliberation, followed by decisive action. To pretend these problems do not exist would be far more damaging. Second, the BJP needs to see itself as an alternative to the Congress and not merely as a party of agitprop constantly striking a contrarian position. For this, it will have to frame a set of distinctive policies and programmes, and constantly update them. More importantly, these have to be communicated to the people in an effective manner over the next five years. There are no shortcuts to power, not even with the best men and women leading the election campaign. It is the long haul between one election and the next that matters most. Defeat in an election should at best be seen as a momentary pause to reflect, re-strategise and resume work with renewed vigour. (Editorial, Pioneer, 18 May 2009)
4. ‘BHARATIYA COMPANIES WORLD’S MOST REPUTED’: The US-based brand and reputation management consulting firm Reputation Institute has named five Bharatiya firms among the top-50 in its annual list of the world’s most reputed companies.
While the global list has been topped by Italy’s chocolate maker Ferrero, Sweden’s retailer IKEA, and Johnson & Johnson in the US, the Tata group has been ranked 11th. Among Bharatiya companies, Tatas are followed by SBI (29), Infosys (39), Larsen & Toubro (47) and Maruti Suzuki (49th).
There are 22 other Indian companies on the list of 600 largest companies ranked in terms of their reputation which include like ITC, Canara Bank, HPCL etc. “Corporate India has the best reputed companies. Of the 27 Bharatiya companies ranked among the 600 largest in the world, almost 90 per cent received scores above the global mean, with five ranking among the Top 50,” the Reputation Institute said in its annual study for 2009.
5. ZUMA & THE HINDU CHANT: The 67-year-old charismatic ANC leader Jacob Zuma was on May 9 sworn in as the President of South Africa at a ceremony here attended by a number of world leaders, including Vice President Hamid Ansari.
The ceremony began with recitation of Gayatri Mantra by a religious leader. South African Air Force jets staged an impressive fly-past and a 21-gun salute boomed as supporters clad in ANC T-shirts danced in joy. Paying tributes to anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, he said, “Madiba (Mandela’s clan name) healed our wounds and established the rainbow nation very firmly.”
6. BLAST FROM THE PAST: CIA ‘mole’ in Mrs Gandhi’s Cabinet
The Central Information Commission has done right in asking the Government to reveal the names of the alleged moles in Mrs Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet during the 1971 war. The Central Information Commission’s order comes after author and journalist Anuj Dhar sought details regarding the leaks of information relating to national security by a CIA agent. Rumours of a spy in the former Prime Minister’s Cabinet at the time of the war have been circulating for years but have never been confirmed. This spy was allegedly passing on information to the CIA, including crucial information relating to the war. In 1983 journalist Seymour Hersh in his book The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House, alleged that Morarji Desai had ‘spied’ for the CIA. This allegation had caused an uproar in India. Thereafter, the United States declassified the documents pertaining to this period and relating to these facts. Anuj Dhar has compiled these records in his book CIA’s Eye on South Asia. These records contain crucial information such as that pertaining to a meeting of then External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh and then US Secretary of State William Rodges in October 5, 1972. They also contain the names and details of the people who had connections with the CIA and provided it with information, which included the proceedings of the Congress Working Committee. The compilation also contains information regarding the missing records of the MEA on the recurring allegations that a Minister had ‘betrayed’ India during the 1971 war.
Strangely enough, the MEA has so far refused to release information and documents in its possession on the absurd grounds that the request for these was based on reports of foreign Governments, newspapers and books, and that the Government of India did not take cognisance of such reports. It has also suggested that according to the RTI Act, authorities were obligated to divulge information of only those events which have happened within the last 20 years. These are patently untenable grounds and amount to a misreading of the RTI Act. If a Cabinet Minister or somebody else was leaking information to a foreign Government it is a serious matter that merits investigation. It becomes even more serious if these leaks took place when the country was at war. It is in the interest of the nation that all the information the Government has in its possession regarding alleged spies be made public. It is difficult to understand why the Government has been reluctant to do so — almost as if it has something to hide. Clearly the public interest that is involved in this case far outweighs any other consideration. The Government should, therefore, come clean and tell all, if only to set the record straight and end speculation. --The Pioneer Edit Desk May 2, 2009
7. WE WANT ACCESS TO CREDIT, NOT BAILOUT: TATA TO BRITAIN: Criticising the British Government for ignoring the manufacturing sector, Ratan Tata has said he was not asking for a bailout but only a “facilitation of access to credit on commercial terms” for his businesses in the UK.
In an interview published in British newspaper Sunday Times, Tata said: “We’re responsible for the fortunes of the company but this is a bone-dry situation in terms of access to credit. Nobody can operate on that basis unless you have large cash balances, which we don’t. My concern is that the Government doesn’t appear to care about manufacturing.”
Tata, however, said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was “a very sincere person. I have to believe he is genuine in his desire to see British industry supported. There hasn’t been implementation of that desire.”
8. ARMY CONCLUDES 72-HR-LONG HIND SHAKTI EXERCISE: Bharatiya Army concluded a major training exercise named "Hind Shakti" on May 6. It was a 72-hour-long exercise conducted in the Punjab plains from May 3 and focused on practicing its premier corps, the Kharga Corps, in conduct of offensive tasks. Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and western command chief Lt General TK Sapru witnessed the exercise.
The exercise witnessed participation by mechanised and re-organised plains infantry division in a blitzkrieg type armoured incursion, emphasising rapid penetration into enemy territory. The manoeuvres also included effective offensive support by air power and attack helicopters.
9. ICICI BANK TO OPEN 580 NEW BRANCHES, NO FRESH HIRING: KOCHHAR: Top private lender ICICI Bank plans to open nearly 600 branches this year, but will not hire as part of the current workforce would be redeployed to manage the expanded network of 2,000 branches.
"We will set up 580 new branches this year ... One and half years ago we had 750 branches and one year from now, once we open these 580 branches, we will have 2,000 branches," ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar told the news agency in an interview.
Kochhar, however, noted that the bank might not increase the headcount, currently at about 36,000, as it would be "re-skilling and re-training" some people in accordance with the needs of the expanded branch network.
10. ORDINARINESS CAN BE UNUSUAL AS IN THE UNUSUAL gathering of ordinary people on May 1, 2009 in Hyderabad, where author Kandukuri Ramesh Babu released four works of `Samanyashastram' , in a tribute to the unsung heroes of the ordinary milieu. And behold! They were there in all possible hues: Ramakrishna, a footpath dweller from Secunderabad earns his living by guarding the footwear outside a temple, and donates part of the income. Vijaya, a pavement dweller from Kacheguda, refused the help of NGOs which were patronising enough in hoping to "rehabilitate" her. She vows to rear her ten children from the footpath. Uttakalla Lakshmi, a roadside tailor from MLA Colony and Vimalamma, a visually challenged beggar who "retired" from her place near Secretariat after educating her children. Daripalle Ramaiah, a pedestrian environmentalist from Khammam, arrived with his slogan `Vriksho Rakshati Rakshita'. Pola Pitchaiah, an ingenious inventor of broom-cutting machine that catapulted the production manifold. A. Baburao, the self-made owner of Café Niloufer who feeds the attendants at MNJ Cancer Hospital.
11. GUJARAT TOPS AGRI-GROWTH TABLE AT 9.6%: Gujarat has recorded the highest agricultural growth among states between 2000-01 and 2007-08, a report by US-based research body has said.
Thanks to investment in agricultural infrastructure mainly irrigation, diffusion of new technologies and power reforms, Gujarat registered 9.6 per cent expansion in farm production, followed by Rajasthan at 8.9 per cent, according to the report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
A well-known economist and author of the report Ashok Gulati gave credit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for "commendable job and turn around" in the state agriculture.
12. MALAYSIA HINDRAF: The Malaysian government gave signs it plans to release three leaders of a banned ethnic Bharatiya protest group along with 10 others who have been held without trial.
“If they (Hindraf) want us to reconsider the status, they have to make an appeal. When they do make the appeal, I will reconsider the status,” Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein told reporters.
Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy declared that he wanted to return to Malaysia from self-imposed exile in London. The home minister said he would not speculate on Waythamoorthy’s status, but that the ministry would review his application, if he had made one. The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), protesting against racial discrimination, staged a massive street demonstration in November 2007. Hindraf was subsequently banned by the government and its leaders arrested.
13. 1 MILLION BHAGAVAD-GITAS IN US-CANADA MOTELS: On April 22-25, 2009, at a convention center just outside Washington, D.C., members of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) met for their annual national convention and trade show. Amidst various booths stood a booth of a different kind, in which a group of earnest volunteers passed out copies of Bhagavad-Gita and made a humble request to the assembled hotel and motel owners: “Please let us provide copies of Bhagavad-Gita to place in your rooms alongside the Gideons Bibles.”
The volunteer members of Pancajanya Project (www.MotelGita.org), a branch of ISKCON place at least 1 million Bhagavad-Gitas in guest rooms of hotels and motel across the U.S. and Canada.
The Project started when Dilip Patel, owner of Sea Breeze Motel in Pacifica, California, began placing Gitas in his own rooms. In April of 2008, Patel teamed up with Milan Doshi and began approaching other motel owners in the San Francisco area. By 2009 they had placed Gitas in over 10,000 rooms in California. Gitas have been supplied to motels of numerous chains including Days Inn, Econolodge etc and guests frequently express their gratitude and interest in the Bhagavad-Gitas provided in the rooms.
14. PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Trinidad and Tobago celebrated an unusual puja on April 26. The “Balka or Volcano Puja” takes place annually at the Columbia Estate on the southwestern peninsula, on the site of an existing volcano. It is ritualistically observed in the month of April.
This Puja has been taking place for well over 120 years or four generations. According to one villager, the Balka Puja is performed to “Shanti Karo,” the volcano deva. Durga is also worshiped.
“Stream of Hindus took the long trek to worship and make offerings
15. SISTERS BAG NASA PRIZE FOR PROJECT: A rocket design-based on Orissan temple architecture prepared by two sisters of Bhubaneswar was adjudged the best at the space settlement design contest organized by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), US.
Pooja Bhattacharya and Swastika Bhattacharya of Bhubaneswar have won the grand prize from among 309 projects submitted by 875 students.
These projects were sponsored by 96 teachers from across the world. Students from US, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Dubai, UAE, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uruguay participated in the competition.
16. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Visitors: Shri.Rikesh Patel UK, Shri Rajeev Chandegra UK.
17. FOOD FOR THOUGHT:Hatred and anger lead to unhappiness,pain and misery.So one should always be soft spolen and all karma yogis should tread the path of reghtousness. - YajurVeda
JAI SHREE RAM
THE GREEN MAN
Jitendra Patel, an environmentalist is transforming a dry creek in Gujarat into a thickly-wooded nature park. VN Balakrishna reports
He is a man with a green thumb. Jitendra Patel, an environmentalist known for his penchant for planting trees, is now busy transforming a dry creek into a thickly wooded land replete with fruit and spice-bearing plants.
He has taken up this Herculean task in Derol village in neighbouring Sabarkantha district, about 80 km from Ahmedabad. He has purchased the land to transform it into a nature lover’s paradise.
“This new park is coming up on 68 acres of land and rests on a dried-up creek on a riverbed refill and is similar to my Tirupati park,” Jitendra Patel, a civil engineer by qualification, told IANS.
Patel had earlier planted more than 200,000 trees in his Tirupati Nature Park in Mehsana district, 100 km from here.
“I believe nature is a kind mother and trees are sacred objects. You respect nature and she will keep you healthy. It is the way our life functions and we must understand at all times that we are part of nature,” says Patel.
He is a recipient of the prestigious Priyadarshini Indira Gandhi Vruksha Mitra environmental national award, which carries a cash prize of Rs.50,000.
Born into a farming family and a diploma holder in civil engineering, 47-year-old Patel says, “The main charm of the place lies in its creeks and estuaries. This is where modern man, exhausted as he is from pollution and tension, can enjoy the freshness of nature far from the madding crowd.”
“A combined effort of a farmer within and an engineer without helped me design my dream,” Patel says.
The park promises to be a refreshing getaway for people from towns like Himmatnagar, Modasa and Disa.
“It won’t be long before the area will be agog with the chirping of migratory birds and wildlife — even crocodiles and snakes, if the forest department allows me to bring them here. I am fond of snakes, they are good friends, Patel says.”
Apart from a building, the open areas consist of a nature trail, space for camping, a future botanical field, and recreation and training programmes. According to Patel, the park has almost all varieties of fruit — bananas, oranges and almonds. There are as many as 150 spice trees and ayurvedic plants commonly found in the Balaram-Ambaji wild sanctuary in north Gujarat and in high altitude areas in northern and southern India.
“I want to plant one million trees here,” says an optimistic Patel. He has also built 15 check dams to meet the water needs of the Derol park. Solar energy will be used to run the park. The park sits on a one-metre deep garbage fill, which is a reclaimed part of the creek. Several projects, including landscaping, a water reservoir and recreation centres are the main attraction of the garden.
“We have more than 200,000 plants to make the park green,” said AK Patel, a former joint director of agriculture who shoulders the responsibility of the plantation drive jointly with Jitendra Patel.
“Through the collaborative efforts of the National Orchard Board as well as people, the park intends to demonstrate the reversal of pollution and is bent on providing a thickly wooded area,” he said.
Inspired by Jitendra Patel’s enthusiasm, Banaskantha district official RJ Patel has now approached him.
“I have invited Jitendra Patel to turn the large tracts of barren areas in Banaskantha into a green belt as he has done elsewhere in Mehsana and Sabarkantha district. I have asked him to plant 10,000 neem trees,” RJ Patel said. -- IANS The Pioneer 10 May 2009
THIS VERTICT WILL FORCE LEADERS TO THINK NATIONALLY
SWAPANDAS GUPTA
For a country confronted by two formidable challenges - an economic downturn of colossal proportions and a security threat stemming from a turbulent neighbourhood - the outcome of the General Election is reassuring for two reasons. First, the election has led to a stable government that will not have to succumb endlessly to the irritations of coalition politics and the threat of a midterm breakdown; and secondly, it has produced a broad national mandate and not been reduced to a clumsy aggregate of different state elections.
The second point is particularly significant in view of the fears that the idea of India was not being translated into political reality. The election result should go some way towards forcing our leaders to be mindful of regions but also think nationally.
Regardless of the fact that there was no outright majority for any pre-poll alliance, Election 2009 was an unqualified victory for the Congress. Contrary to initial fears of greater political fragmentation, the Congress has succeeded in renewing itself quite spectacularly. It has won seats from all corners of the country and its gamble of distancing itself from regional players with personalized agendas has paid handsome dividends. Its decision to persist with the PM's image of innate decency has proved a success, as has been its emphasis on the youth vote. In hindsight, the decision to have no truck with the Left was applauded by the people of West Bengal and Kerala. No wonder, Mamta Banerjee was unquestionably the woman of the match.
In 2004, the Congress didn't win the election, the BJP lost it. Election 2009 is the nearest India has come to a positive mandate since Atal Bihari Vajpayee won the day in 1999. With an estimated 9% swing in its favour, the Congress will be justified in treating the verdict as its victory.
Predictably, a mandate of this nature comes with onerous responsibilities. Spared the torture of having to constantly accommodate sectional demands, the new government has no choice but to perform. Having won the 'weak' versus 'strong' debate conclusively - the PM's contribution to the victory should not be underestimated - Manmohan Singh must now live in the faith reposed in him and actually exercise the tough options. Will he take steps to curb a fiscal deficit that has become unmanageable? Will be inject a sense of urgency into the security establishment so that terrorists, and not citizens, become the hunted? The voters have been very generous to an incumbent government which allowed too many things to drift in the past five years. but the season for excuses ended on Saturday afternoon
This has been a terrible election for the BJP. It is not merely that a truncated NDA performed worse than in 2004 but that two consecutive general defeats has shown up its shortcomings more starkly. The BJP was lax about reading the writing on the wall in 2004 and lulled itself into believing that anti-incumbency would do the trick. It tried to juggle between the imperatives of a modern party with strong policy thrust and the comforts of old certitudes. The end result was a an identity crisis that let to the loss of allies, its absence from a large swathe of India and the truncation of a hitherto reliable middle class vote. In the 1990s, the BJP was the natural party of the youth; today, the Congress is the beneficiary of India's demographic transformation. The party must ask why the children of BJP voters aren't comfortable voting for the BJP.
After the 2004 defeat, the BJP desisted from asking the hard political question that arise after a defeat. The belief that organizational consolidation alone can secure victory is self-deluding. the party's surge in the 1990s and the Congress' awesome performance in Uttar Pradesh weren't on account of organisation. Voters are moved by politics. In the process, a ramshackle organisation gets thrown up. The BJP must once again ask the question it once addressed but has conveniently forgotten to ask of late: is it content to being a sectional player or does it want to be a serious contender for power?
If it wants to be a serious challenger to the Congress in the coming years, the party would avoid preaching to the converted. There is vast constituency in India that is instinctively uncomfortable with the "Congress culture". Yet, it is uneasy with a party that shows a lack of intellectual depth shows inconsistency (as on the nuclear deal) and is perceived to be preoccupied with peripheral issues.
As a democracy, India needs both a strong government and a robust opposition. Unfortunately, this election has only thrown up only one of these. Fortunately, even that is a huge step forward. -- The Times of India, May 17, 2009
APPRECIATING SANGH FROM AN OUTSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE
Dr Vijay Rajiva
(Excerpts)
The family of organisations (the literal meaning of Sangh Parivar) or more precisely the community of organisations-led by the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), established by Dr Hedgewar in 1925) and its sister organisations and affiliates considers itself to be a movement both for Indian national unity and the larger cause of the well being of the global community of nations and peoples world wide. Hence its motto: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or the whole world is one single family.
The Sanskrit word ‘Vasudha’ stands for ‘Earth’ and this word as well as its cognates Prithvi, Bhu, Bhumi etc. are all found in the Veda, the collective name for the sacred book of the Hindus , which are classified as Shruti (revealed truth) and Smriti (commentary). The four Vedas (Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda) along with the Upanishads are considered Shruti or revealed truth, because they were revealed to the rishis, saints and sages several millennia ago.
Traditional Western scholarship whether in Indology or Sanskrit studies, views the Veda in a variety of ways from the literary to the spiritual interpretation but they uniformly emphasise the importance of celestial deities of the cosmos and the elements as primary, with earth deities of water, hills, rock, trees, flora and fauna as of secondary importance, and thus the extraordinary environmental and ecological dimensions of the Veda are lost. Both these aspects are significantly the central tenets of the Sangh Parivar. Unearthing this ‘earthly’ ‘earthy’ origins of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is an urgent task for anyone seeking to understand the Sangh Parivar. Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS, was clear about the aim of the organisation as one which protected Indian interests. While not ruling out the need for militant defence of the Indian subcontinent (which even Mahatma Gandhi advocated) this is a philosophy that is inclusive, non-violent and is yet open to self-expression as can be seen in the writings of MS Golwalkar (the second chief of the RSS and popularly called Guruji) notably in A Bunch of Thoughts. Shri Guruji has been systematically misrepresented by liberal/left writers and here again both Indian and Western scholars have rejected this misinterpretation.
The message has been further updated and renewed in the life and work of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (1916-1968) of the Jana Sangh. His work Integral Humanism (1965) is the contemporary expression of the unity of the earthly family of nations and peoples.
With the support of universal knowledge and our heritage, we shall create a Bharat which will excel all its past glories, and will enable every citizen in its fold to steadily progress in the development of his manifold latent possibilities and to achieve through a sense of unity with the entire creation, a state even higher than that of a complete human being. This is the external divine form of our culture. This is our message to humanity at the cross roads...(Fourth Lecture, Integral Humanism).
This Integral Humanism was adopted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (the BJP since 1980) and has been reiterated in the statements from the BJP.
This connection with the earth- family is not accidental as seen above, because it is derived from the entire corpus of the Veda.
It received a partial and incomplete statement as Hindutva in V.D. Savarkar’s Essentials of Hindutva (1922). Although much maligned, much misunderstood, much misread and much misrepresented, Savarkar’s work has stood the test of time. In his book he has clearly stated that Hindutva is the culture of all communities that live in Hindustan. Furthermore, he goes on to say that despite the fact that not all communities may look on Hindustan as their Punyabhumi (sacred land) they will be equal citizens in an Independent Hindustan after the departure of the British.
That crucial step which he took towards universalism (as opposed to the particularism of limiting Hindutva only to Hindus) and advocating it for all communities, obviously derived from his Vedic legacy. His social work in removing caste distinctions, especially that of untouchability, pre-dates even the efforts of Gandhiji. That work, also started by Dr. Hedgewar is being continued in the work of the RSS and affiliated organisations.The metaphor of the banyan tree has been used to describe Hinduism’s rootedness in earth and its outreach to other cultures and other peoples and sums up well the unity-in-difference of the Sangh Parivar’s philosophy and ideology. The turn to the metaphor of the tree is crucial since this is very much an earth centered movement, presently localised in the subcontinent of India but which has global implications for today’s world.
The Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is the cultural wing of the Sangh Parivar and is entrusted with the job of both preserving and renewing/updating (for our times) the Vedic heritage.
The RSS itself with its many dedicated leaders and swayamsevaks and more than 70,000 social welfare projects, and attendant organisations continue to lead as they deservedly should, the Indian branch of the Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. The moving prayer of dedication to the Motherland (in Sanskrit) is also simultaneously a prayer for the protection of Mother Earth, the entire globe. There is here no politics of hate (as has been alleged) only an all encompassing love, compassion and a determination to defend Mother Earth, the Punya Bhoomi of the entire Earth and the global family. This might on occasions, require the determined struggle against those who seek to destroy both India and Mother Earth.
Indian intellectuals, especially academics who are fearful of the consequences of questioning the status quo (the establishment negation of anything sympathetic to the Hindu tradition) because of the impact of this on their careers.
Ideologues, hacks, opportunists and careerists who are gainfully employed in attacking the Sangh Parivar. The rewards are not just monetary, but include professional advancement and honours.
Indian intellectuals who are genuinely concerned that the rise of the Sangh Parivar might signal the return to casteism and the negative features of Hindu society. They, of course, are not aware that the Sangh does not condone casteism and in fact works for its eradication.
Upholders of monotheistic faiths who genuinely have no understanding of Hindu polycentrism and are fearful that their faith may be left behind.
Why is the concept of Nation (Rashtra) important for the Sangh Parivar?
Distinguishing between the state and the nation is significant for the Sangh Parivar because the former is an institutional organisation for the exercise of political power, while the Rashtra is a civilizational notion and for the Hindus it traces the trajectory of the land and culture they have lived in continuously for several millennia. This lived in quality or characteristics gives a special meaning to sacred land or Punyabhumi. Many Hindus feel that it is also because in this land sacred scriptures were created and sacred figures, saints, sages, avatars lived there.
That gives an important dimension to the word Punyabhumi but is not the only link to Rashtra or Nation. (To be concluded)
(The writer taught Political Philosophy at a Canadian university.) --The Organiser Weekly.

Vaishakha 18 Vik Samvat 2066. Yugabda 511, 1 May 2009

1. FESTIVALS: Ganga Dashami, also referred as Ganga-Dashahara, celebrates the birthday of River Ganga – her descent on earth. The festival begins on the Amavasi day in the Hindu month of Jyestha and ends on the Dashami tithi corresponding to 2 June this year. The festival lasts for 10 days.The festival is of great importance in those places through which the Ganga flows, especially at Haridwar and Prayag (Allahabad). Ganga is worshipped in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal during this period. Ganga Dashami is an ideal opportunity to contemplate and usher in change and save Mother Ganga.
2. NEW BIOGRAPHY OF MADHAVRAO MULE: Muleji inspired many swayamsevaks - Mohan Bhagwat.: RSS Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat released the new biography of Madhavrao Mule (former Sarkaryavaha of RSS) in Mumbai on April 9. Releasing this Marathi biography written by Shri Suresh sathe ,Shri Bhagwat said if one has to properly understand goal of the Sangh and the inspiration to work for the country one must read the biography of Madhavrao Mule. “This is not just a book highlighting the life of Muleji, it is the life sketch of a dedicated Sangh worker,” he said. Muleji’s biography was first published in Hindi about 25 years back by late Lekhraj Sharma. This new biography highlights many hidden facts about Muleji, Shri Bhagwat added.
Veteran Sangh Pracharak Shrikant Joshi, Konkan Prant Sanghachalak Shri Bapusaheb Mokashi and writer Suresh Sathe also shared the dais.
3. VOTE HUNDRED PERCENT, BUILD PRESSURE ON HINDU ISSUES: RSS general secretary (Sarkaryavah) Suresh (Bhaiyyaji) Joshi appealed to Swayamsewaks to ensure hundred percent polling and create a pressure on Hindu issues using fully the rights the constitution has given. Swayamsewaks are voters too and as the Sarsanghchalak has said-we must ensure that largest number of people vote; that’s the way to address Hindu concerns.
In the first ever wide ranging interview to Tarun Vijay, (Director, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation), Bhaiyya ji Joshi, as he is popularly called, was emphatic that unless politicians who understand and appreciate nationalist issues like Kashmiri Hindus’ safe return to the valley, abolishing article 370, ensuring Ram Temple at Ayodhya, are elected, society won’t see the changes it aspires for.
He said he sees a wave of awakening amongst the voters and surely a pressure has to be built on Hindutva related issues using the rights constitution has provided.
4. 'INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION WAS LITERATE': The 4,000-year-old Indus Valley civilization that thrived on the Indo-Pak border might have been a literate society which used a script close to present day languages like Tamil, Sanskrit and English, reveals a new finding announced on April 23.
A group of Bharatiya scientists have conducted a statistical study of the symbols found in the Indus Valley remains and compared them with various linguistic scripts and non-linguistic systems like DNA and computer programming. They found that the inscriptions closely matched those of spoken languages such as Tamil, Sanskrit and English. The results published in the journal Science show that the Indus script could be “as-yet-unknown language”.
The scientists from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Indus Research Center in Chennai collaborated with lead author Rajesh Rao to develop models which helped comparing the symbols with present day languages.
5. DHARMA SANSKRITI SANGAM IN VARANASI: Noted saint Swami Avimukteshwaranand stressed the need for coordination among all ways of worship for ensuring peace in the world. He was inaugurating the Buddhist-Vaidik Mahasammelan at Nivedita Girls School in Varanasi on April 19. He said the God is one and there are various ways to reach Him. “This could be the basic foundation of unity among all the sects and faiths. It is good for the entire humanity that both the Buddhists and Vedics are coming together. This sangam will prove to be a milestone in achieving this objective. We need to do this work with patience,” he said.
Speaking at the Sammelan Prof. Geshe Navang Samtan, Vice Chancellor of Tibetan University said the reason of conflicts in the world is the clash between various cultures. He said terrorism could not be arrested without restoring peace, compassion, satisfaction and friendship in the world.
Earlier, in his introductory remarks senior Sangh Pracharak and patron of Dharma Sanskrit Sangam Indresh Kumar said Kashi and Sarnath are complementary to each other and both should take initiatives to save the society from crime, corruption, alien culture, terrorism and consumerism. He demanded to declare Sarnath a pilgrimage and scholarship to Buddhist students.
6. PEOPLE IN NORTH AND SOUTH BHARAT BELONG TO THE SAME GENE POOL: ICHR CHAIRMAN: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests of blood samples from people in the Bharatiya subcontinent have confirmed that the human race had its origins in Africa and not Europe or Central Asia as claimed by a few historians.
The test has classified the people in north and south Bharat as belonging to one gene pool, and not different ethnic groups such as Aryans and Dravidians.
Giving the information, Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research D.N. Tripathi said geneticists from Pakistan had collected samples for genetics analysis of the people of Bharatiya subcontinent and sent them to cellular and molecular biology laboratories in the U.S.. Scientists in Pakistan concluded from the test results that the human race spread out of Africa 60,000 years before Christ. They settled in the subcontinent. Geneticists in Pakistan concluded that people living in the northern and southern regions of Bharat and those in the West Asian region were from the same gene pool, he added.
Asked about the argument of many historians tracing the lineage of people in North Bharat to Aryans, Prof. Tripathi said test results had proved this wrong. "We have the results of studies. The conclusion of some historians that Aryans came here 15,000 years before Christ does not hold water," he added.
7. SPY IN SKY TO AID INDIA’S TERROR WAR: Security forces can now look to the heavens for help in the war against terror.
Bharat on April 20 acquired Cold War-style sneak-peek capabilities with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launching a spy satellite from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The all-weather, 24-hour Israeli surveillance satellite will help security agencies monitor the country’s international borders and give early warning about any kind of troop build-up, infiltration attempts and even ballistic missile attacks.
Dubbed ‘RISAT-2,’ the spy satellite weighing 300 kg is capable of seeing through clouds and carrying out day-and-night, all-weather imaging.
8. GOEBBELSIAN SECULARISM: Punish Gujarat’s perjury promoters: The findings by the Special Investigation Team — appointed by the Supreme Court and headed by Mr RK Raghavan, the former CBI director — that the activist group Citizens for Justice and Peace fabricated ‘evidence’ relating to the Gujarat violence of 2002 are revealing. The SIT has found about two dozen key witnesses were tutored and made to sign template affidavits, printed out on the same printer. The witnesses gave bogus evidence about the alleged rape and murder of a pregnant woman, named Kauser Bano, whose stomach was apparently torn open and foetus pulled out. The SIT has concluded that this grisly and hideous incident simply did not happen. Another fictitious case related to witnesses who claimed to have seen bodies dumped into a well in the Naroda Patiya neighbourhood of Ahmedabad. Again, no corroborative evidence has been found and the SIT has reason to believe this incident too never took place. In a third case, the police was falsely accused of aiding the murderers of a British national of Gujarati origin. Finally, claims that Mr PC Pandey, Commissioner of Ahmedabad police in 2002, colluded with a mob in an attack on Gulbarga Society, a largely Muslim residential quarter, were also found to be untrue. The SIT has established that Mr Pandey was elsewhere at the time.
While bringing into question the credibility of Ms Teesta Setalvad, the leading light of the CJP, the SIT revelations also point to a carefully crafted conspiracy. The myth about the murder of a pregnant woman, which became the subject of impassioned essays and books, was used to dehumanise Gujarati Hindus. The mass dumping of bodies in a well and the role of the police were used to point to a pogrom-like situation, with the state killing its own people. In targeting Mr Pandey, key functionaries of the Government were sought to be put on the backfoot. An attempt was made to prejudice public opinion and subvert investigations into the Godhra carnage and its aftermath even before these started. All this implies something far more serious than the genuine errors or even the wild ranting of over-imaginative vigilantes. Ms Setalvad obviously had a political motive. As has been known since the Zahira Shaikh case, there is a documented history to her coercing and bribing of witnesses and, now, of promoting perjury. The charge that the Gujarat Police protected the killers of a British citizen was particularly audacious. It inevitably had diplomatic implications, with Ms Setalvad causing her British interlocutors to believe they were dealing with a rogue Government in Gandhinagar. To call this treachery would be mild. Ms Setalvad has been shown up as having an unusually perverted criminal mind.
It is nobody’s suggestion that there were no pre-meditated murders in Gujarat in February-March 2002. From the Godhra incineration of Hindu pilgrims to the retaliatory and counter-retaliatory killings that followed, hundreds of lives were lost. Justice may be delayed but it must be delivered. If individual officials or politicians had a role to play, they need to be punished. Indeed, the judicial process has already resulted in convictions. This does mean, however, that entire case histories can be manufactured and an activist cabal’s political prejudices can be allowed to come in the way of reality. Ms Setalvad needs to be tried for vilifying and framing innocent people.- The Pioneer Edit Desk 15 Apr
9. VISIT BY BHUTANESE FAMILIES TO SRI LAKSHMI TEMPLE ORGANIZED BY SEWA INTERNATIONAL AND HSS: Several Bhutanese families have recently been relocated to Worcester, MA by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) from refugee camps in Nepal. Sewa International and HSS helped these families visit Sri Lakshmi Temple. On April 18, 2009 HSS arranged a bus to drive these families from Worcester to Ashland to visit Sri Lakshmi Temple. In addition, several volunteers picked up families in 16 cars/vans. For most of them, this was their first visit to a Hindu temple since their arrival to the USA. In all, about 110 Bhutanese and 25 volunteers assembled at the temple the temple organizers held a special Sri Lakshmi archana. After the archana, the temple president Kumar Ji Nochur gave each of the families and the volunteers a beautiful 8x11” picture of the goddess.
10. $27BN FLOWS OUT ILLEGALLY EVERY YEAR FROM INDIA: Just when a partisan debate rages over the issue of billions of black money hoarded abroad by Bharat's corrupt, the country has been ranked fifth in the list of 160 developing countries suffering from the outflow of huge amounts of money through illicit channels.
A US-based organisation Global Financial Integrity (GFI) — its report -- 'Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2002-06' — which came out in December last year, has said total illicit financial outflows from India during the period averaged from a low of $22.7 billion to a high of $27.3 billion per year.
The GFI report is based on examination of trade and external debt data from 2002-06 maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
11. HELP THE CIVILIANS: Over 40,000 civilians have reportedly fled the no-fire zone (NFZ) in Wanni region, under siege by the Sri Lankan army, to government-controlled territory. This is a welcome development since Colombo had previously claimed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) treated civilians in the region as human shields and did not allow them to shift to refugee camps. However, Colombo must extend the ceasefire as demanded by the United Nations to enable the rest of the civilian population to move out of the conflict zone if they wished to. UN agencies had estimated that over a lakh Tamil civilians are trapped in the region. The two-day ceasefire offered by the Sri Lankan government was too short a time for the evacuation of such a large number of people.
Colombo's figure for the number of civilians in the conflict zone is less than the UN's, and it blames the Tigers for civilian casualties. A pro-rebel website and human rights groups say that over 1,000 civilians in the NFZ have been killed in attacks by Sri Lankan defence forces. Both sides allege that the other side is using Tamil civilians as human shields. In the absence of independent sources, it is impossible to test the veracity of the charges traded by both the parties. The international community must step in immediately and make the warring sides see reason, to stop an immense human tragedy from unravelling in the region. The LTTE has pleaded to the International Committee of the Red Cross for medical supplies and for evacuating injured people. Colombo should facilitate the entry of the Red Cross to the region. It is necessary to involve international aid agencies in relief work since Colombo, represented in the region overwhelmingly by its armed forces, is seen as hostile to Tamils. Greater involvement by UN agencies may also help Colombo counter the LTTE claim that civilians have refused to shift to state-run camps because they fear for their safety.
The world expects the Sri Lankan government to adhere to internationally accepted human rights norms. Unfortunately, the record of Colombo leaves much to be desired. Both parties have ignored warnings by UN commissioners that war tactics employed by Colombo and the LTTE resulted in immense hardship to civilians and could be classified as war crimes. Colombo must not lose track of its international commitments as its armed forces fight what it believes to be the final battle in an ethnic war that has lasted a quarter of a century. (Editorial, Times of India, 22 April 2009)
12. HINDU SCHOLARS ASK FOR ‘KIRTAN’ AWARD AT GRAMMYS: Hindu scholars are calling on Grammy Awards bosses to add a new category for traditional Bharatiya music at the annual awards ceremony. Officials at the Universal Society of Hinduism are urging Grammy bosses to include ‘Kirtan’ as a field for future awards shows, beginning in 2010, and reports contactmusic.com.
“In 2009, there were Grammys awarded in 110 music categories, covering 32 fields, including pop, rock, rap, country, new age, gospel, jazz, folk, world music, Hawaiian, Latin, reggae and blues, and we now think Bharatiya music should be included,” said Rajan Zed, Hindu scholar adding “Kirtan is attracting large audiences in USA and Canada, and many other countries of the world, resulting in various new albums and creation of star kirtan artists. There should be Favorite Kirtan Artist of the Year award at the Grammys.”
He felt that the ‘kirtans’ have a meditating effect. “The powerful healing and transformational energies of these ancient chants in help to calm and focus the mind. It’s a sacred and spiritual experience that takes one to the state of deep meditation,” stated he.
13. US-BASED BHARATIYA AUTHOR DEBUTS WITH RECORD ADVANCE: Sarita Mandanna, a US-based Bharatiya author, has created ripples in the publishing world as her ‘Tiger Hills’ has received the largest advance Penguin India house has so far paid for a debut novel.
David Godwin Associates Ltd, the Britain-based literary agency, has sold Tiger Hills to Penguin Books-India for an undisclosed amount.
David Godwin Associates spokesperson Sophie Hoult refused to divulge the exact amount but said the deal was in seven figures.
Hoult said Tiger Hills, “a sweeping popular novel set in India between 1878 and the Second World War, was a cross between an Indian version of The Thornbirds and Gone with the Wind”.
14. SIKH SANGAT CRITICISES IMPOSITION OF JAZIA ON SIKHS: Rashtriya Sikh Sangat criticised the imposition of jazia on the Sikhs in Pakistan by Taliban. In a press statement issued in New Delhi Sikh Sangat international president Sardar Gurcharan Singh Gill demanded immediate withdrawal of the tax and warned the Government of Pakistan of stronger protests world over. Talibans have levied the jazia on Sikhs, before occupying the houses of Sikhs kidnapping one Sardar Jaiwant Singh. The Sikhs were forced to pay Rs 20 millions.
15. SANGH SHIKSHA VARGA BEGINS IN KERALA: The first Sangh Siksha Varga of RSS in Kerala began at G Ramachandran Public School at Neyyattinkara in Thiruvanantha-puram on April 20. The School is situated in a large 10 acre compound, which is the residential property of the Gandhian Sri G Ramachandran.
Inaugurating the 20-day Varga, which comprises of 360 swayamsevaks from four districts of Kerala, Bhagini Mythili, a disciple of GR and a devotee of Swami Yogananda Paramahamsa, said she was happy to be host to dedicated youth who are together trained to serve the nation.
Sangh Shiksha Vargas in various parts of Bharat will be held in May/June with tritiya Varsha statrting on May 10 at Nagpur.
16. BHARAT, CHINA MAY SEE LARGEST GAINS IN IMF QUOTAS: India, China, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico will see some of the largest gains in their quota shares in the International Monetary Fund to bring them closer to their evolving position in the world economy.
The five nations are among 54 members who will get an increase in quota shares of 4.9 percentage points, 135 countries will see an increase in voting share of 5.4 percentage points due to the combined effects of the increase in quotas and basic votes.
17. NEW RULE ON RELIGIOUS CONVERSION OF CHILDREN IN MALAYSIA : In a major step to ease inter- faith conflicts that have strained race relations, Malaysia banned conversion of children without both parents' consent, days after an ethnic Indian Hindu woman challenged her estranged husband's move to change their kids' religion to Islam.
After a cabinet meeting, the administration of new Prime Minister Najib Razak decided that children of parents where one of them opts to convert, must be raised in the common religion at the time of marriage.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Nazri said that in the new decision any spouse who has been converted into Islam would also have to fulfil his or her marriage responsibilities according to civil marriage laws.
"Religion should not be used as a tool to escape marriage responsibilities. Conversion is not a ground for the automatic dissolution of a marriage," he told reporters.
The announcement comes in the backdrop of a number of legal spats that have mushroomed in this multi-cultural country with complaints of discrimination by non-Muslims as the Islamic shariah courts rule in favour of Muslims, while civil courts say they don't have jurisdiction to hear judgements by shariah courts.
18. KIDWAI NAMED HSBC INDIA’S COUNTRY HEAD: Naina Lal Kidwai has been given a larger role at Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) in its Bharat operations. Hitherto Group General Manager and CEO of HSBC India, Kidwai now becomes Group General Manager and Country Head of HSBC India.That would make Kidwai chairman of the eight HSBC Group companies in Bharat.
19. MURTHYS PLEDGE WEALTH FOR SOCIAL WELFARE PROJECTS: Taking a leaf out of investment moghul Warren Buffett's social initiatives, Infosys co-founder and chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy intend to give their monies to those working in three sectors - basic healthcare, basic education and basic nutrition.
"There are lots of fabulous initiatives in the field being executed by some wonderful people to address the issues that interest us," said Murthy. "So, Sudha and I will give financial help to these people rather than doing it directly."
20. BHARAT, US STOP NEPAL FROM AXING ARMY CHIEF: Nepal’s beleaguered army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal will now live to fight another day as his arch enemy, the ruling Maoist party, has decided to tread with caution after pressure from Bharat and the US.
“The party has asked the government not to take a hasty decision since there is tremendous pressure from Bharat and the US,” Maoist lawmaker Chandra Prakash Gajurel said after the top leaders of the party met to study the developments.
The switch came after indications that the Maoists’ biggest ally in the coalition, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), would not support the firing of the army chief.
21. SONAL SHAH HEADS OBAMA’S OFFICE OF SOCIAL INNOVATION: Sonal Shah, who formerly led Google Global Development Initiatives, the philanthropic arm of Google.com, has been appointed head of the new Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the White House, the Obama administration informed.
The naming of Shah follows closely two other high-profile appointments of Indian Americans in the Obama administration: Vivek Kundra, the nation’s first chief information officer; and actor Kal Penn, the new associate director for the White House Office of Public Liaison.
22. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Visitors: Shri Som Parasher and Nelelam from UK. Pravaas: Vishwa Vibhag Samyojak Dr.Shankar Tatwawadi is in UK after his pravas to Kenya, South Africa and Bharat.
23. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves you with ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. - Gautam Buddha
JAI SHREE RAM
BLACK MONEY HAUNTS CONGRESS
S Gurumurthy
The manner in which a bold initiative to unearth Indian black money lying abroad was aborted by the then Congress Government in the 1980s was suggestive. Then, as now, the party leadership acted as if it had skeletons to hide
Switzerland was accused of giving shelter to black money and there has been a lot of inflow of such wealth from India and other countries of the world.” This is not Mr LK Advani speaking in an election rally but the Swiss Ambassador to India briefing the media in New Delhi last year. The occasion was the 60th anniversary of Indo-Swiss Friendship Treaty. Admitting that Indian black money gets hoarded in his country, he added that the new law in Switzerland would not stop it but control it “up to a certain limit”.
The Swiss diplomat authentically answered the first of the FAQs, that is, whether lots of Indian monies are really stashed away in Swiss banks. Swiss banks are not the only secret destination. There are 37 such shelters in the world, says US Inland Revenue. The secret owners of the monies operate in secrecy — venal businessmen, corrupt politicians and public servants, drug lords, and criminal gangs like the D-company. These slush monies are the financial RDX for terror, besides weapons of mass destruction of national and global finance. That there is secret money is no more a secret. Only the amounts and the owners of that money are secret.
But how large could be such stolen Indian wealth hoarded in Switzerland so far? Specific estimates of this later. Before that, here is a side show, but a relevant one.
An apology would be in order. For, I figure in this show. In late 1980s, at the behest of an English national daily, while investigating a corporate scam, I had attempted to trail the Indian currencies stashed abroad. In the course of the probe, I had contacted Fairfax, a US investigative firm. Impressed by its skills, I persuaded the Government of India to engage the firm for the task. Fairfax agreed to work for a slice of the black wealth uncovered by them as fee. According to the Swiss sources then, the Indian money stashed in Swiss banks was estimated around some $300 billion. That was enough to excite the Fairfax to go for the kill.
But, soon my efforts landed me in jail on March 13, 1987, when the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested me on charges that later turned out to be bogus, but were enough to stop the probe. The whole nation knew then that real reason why rulers struck was their fear that the probe had targeted the Bofors pay-off and secrets monies of the ruling family abroad. Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, moved honest and bold civil servants like Vinod Pandey and Bhure Lal out of the probe and eventually sacked the then Finance Minister VP Singh, who had authorised the efforts.
The chain of events that followed led to corruption emerging as the major issue in the 1989 poll in which Rajiv Gandhi, who had wiped out the Opposition in 1984 election, was defeated, and VP Singh became the Prime Minister. But there is a big lesson in these developments that often goes unnoticed. And that is the way the bold national interest initiative to unearth the Indian black wealth abroad was aborted clearly confirmed that the ruling party was mortally afraid of any probe into secret monies abroad. This fear haunts the Congress even today. That is why the 1987 episode is relevant now.
Now cut to the main story.
Illicit monies are the dirty outcome of modern capitalism. But, after the 9/11 terror attack, the United States realised that not just the buccaneers in business but terrorists like Osama bin Laden could hide their funds in secret havens and use them to bomb the world. Campaigns against dirty money as high security risk commenced with the path-breaking research done by Raymond W Baker, a Harvard MBA and a Brooking scholar. His research was published in a book titled Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System in 2005.
This set off intense debate in the US as the exposure linked dirty business and black money with terror and national security. Raymond Baker had estimated, using authentic data, tools and reasons, the tainted wealth stashed in banks at $11.5 trillion to which, he found, one more trillion was getting added annually. He added that in the process the West was getting an annual bounty of $500 billion from the developing countries, including India.
Global Financial Integrity, a global watchdog headed by Baker to curtail illicit money flows, has recently brought out detailed estimates of the black money hoarded in secret havens from different countries. GFI research shows that during the period from 2002 to 2006, annually $27.3 billion was stashed away from India, making a total of $137.5 billion for the five-year period (the Executive Report of GFI in www.gfip.org on ‘Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries 2002-2006’ Economists’ version). That is, in just five years, Indian wealth amounting to Rs 6.88 lakh crore was smuggled out of India. This gives clue as to how much Indian money would have slipped out of India in the last 62 years, particularly during the Nehruvian socialist regime when the income tax (97.5 per cent) and wealth tax (almost equal to the income earned on investments) together constituted double the income earned!
It is undisputed that the Nehruvian socialist model had forced huge sums of Indian money out of India. So the amount of Indian black money stashed away in the last 60 years — estimated at from $500 billion (Rs 25 lakh crore) to $1400 billion (Rs 70 lakh crore) — do not seem to be wide off the mark. Economists call it flight of capital. This is the Indian people’s money stolen away from them.
See the consequence even if part of it is brought back. A portion of it would make India free from all external debts which is now over $220 billion; India will transform into an economic superpower; some 10 or 15 Indian Rupee could buy a US dollar which today 50 Indian Rupees cannot. A litre of petrol on our roadside would cost some Rs 15 or even less, against today’s 40 plus; the cost of imports in rupee terms would be down to a third or half; India’s entire infrastructure needs can be funded; India will become so energy efficient and cost-competitive that exporters may need no sops at all; India will lend to — presently it borrows from — the world. India’s housing can be funded at affordable cost; rural poverty can be wiped out... The list is endless. -- The Pioneer 21 April 2009.
PM IGNORANT ABOUT AYODHYA STORY
Prafull Goradia
Human hands could not have brought down the strong stone walls of the Babri edifice. To do that and clear the debris overnight required more than enraged kar sevaks
By rejecting Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav’s accusation that the Babri edifice was demolished by the Congress, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has betrayed his ignorance. On July 11, 1991 The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 came into operation. The legislation prohibited the conversion of any place of worship from its character as it existed on August 15, 1947. There was, however, one exception made and that was Ayodhya. To quote the relevant section of the Act, “Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the place or place of worship commonly known as Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid situated in Ayodhya in the State of Uttar Pradesh.”
The obvious motive of the Narasimha Rao Government was to secure its posture of secularism; to forbid any change whatsoever in any place of worship in the country. Secondly, the Government kept all options open with regard to Ayodhya where it could do what it liked. The fate of the Babri edifice thus began to be sealed in July 1991. On the fateful day of December 6, 1992, I happened to reach the VIP terrace opposite the Babri edifice by 10.40 am. Most of the senior leaders of the BJP, the RSS and the VHP also came to this terrace. The tenor of the conversation I heard was: Let us hope that after today’s kar seva the popular mood would compel the Muslim community to give up its claim over the edifice. When by noon a large number of youth climbed the domes of the edifice there was consternation. The young men had no effect whatsoever except that they scratched the domes hard enough to show up the colour of sand.
Subsequently came the news, through the several police officers who were present, that a number of men were systematically attacking the edifice walls just below the domes with the help of crowbars. When some leaders questioned the police about their inaction, the reply was that they had instructions not to intervene without a threat to human life. Incidentally, no Minister of the Uttar Pradesh Government was available to contact.
Within the next hour came to the terrace two Press photographers who had been beaten, bruised and bleeding somewhat. Their cameras had been snatched away because the men with the crowbars did not want to be photographed. That is when I realised that those men were Government servants and not kar sevaks who would be proud to be photographed whereas Government servants would be afraid. The town of Ayodhya was overcrowded with people, perhaps, two to three lakh in number. At 2:30 pm there was an audible sigh by the people which signalled that one of the domes had fallen. From where I was, I could not see it collapse. I did however witness the fall of the other two domes at 3:40 and 4:30 pm. There were tears of joy in the eyes of some of the VHP leaders. The Sangh leadership was neither jumping with joy nor sad with anxiety. By and large, the BJP veterans looked stunned as if blood had flowed out of their veins.
At 5:30 pm all of us came down from the terrace and began wending our way to where our cars were parked. The ten 30-feet walls were still standing as they were in the morning. All they had lost were their domes. Uncannily, not all these years since then have I ever seen a photograph of the Babri edifice without its domes. The earliest next picture was that of the Ram Lalla mandir in a tent hastily established by the Central Reserve Police. It was published in the dailies of December 9, 1992.
Clearly, the 10 enormous walls were demolished during the next 60 hours after 6:00 pm by when the Kalyan Singh Ministry had been dismissed and the President had taken over the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Which means that the walls were demolished by the representatives of the Central Government. Human hands could not have brought down the strong stone walls. To do the work and clear the debris fast mechanical devices, probably belonging to the CPWD, were used.
For the next fortnight, the BJP could not decide whether to claim credit for the demolition or deny its role or to admit its ignorance. Meanwhile, one of its prominent leaders wrote an article in a national daily that the 6th was the darkest day in his life. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao went on the television the same night, condemning the demolition and promising that he would re-build the masjid. Actually there was no need to rebuild the whole edifice since only the domes had been destroyed. Contrary to his promise, the walls were razed to the ground. Obviously, the Prime Minister had found an enthusiastic accomplice in Mr Kalyan Singh, although I surmise, without the knowledge of his senior partymen. He, therefore, became a virtual persona non grata thereafter and was finally expelled from the party. -- The Pioneer 1 May 2009