Khalistan Calling newsletter dated January 14, 2004.
The three million strong diaspora Sikhs, unlike their 21 million compatriots captive in India, are free and prosperous and they are determined - as they believe it is their destiny and pray for it every day
; "Raj Karayga Khalsa; (Sikhs will rule) Aaaqi Rahaya nah Koyay: Khawar hoiyey Sab Milaingay; Bachay Sharan Joh Hoyay; DILLI Takht Par Bahay Gee; Aap Guru Kee Fauj; Chattar Chulayn gay Sis Par; Barri Karaygee Mauj," - to create a sovereign, democratic, egalitarian Sikh buffer state of KHALISTAN in South Asia, stretching from the Jumna river on the East, to the Pakistan border on the West, China on the Northeast and Kashmir on the North, playing its God-given role of a granary for countries of Central Asia and acting as a 'bridge of prosperity' and commerce between Central and South Asia.* Please E-mail or FAX newsletter
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rea======================
New dirty face of fascist India
under the Hindutva-fundamentalist Neo-Nazi wave
-------
An 87-year old research institute in Pune
is vandalised by Neo-Nazi Maratha Maha Sangh goons
in the name of 17th century Maratha warrior Shivaji
-------
An 80 years old respected Sanskrit scholor's face blackened
by Shiv Sena
thugsjust because American author of a book on Shivaji,
they did not like, acknowledged him
-------
American Professor Laine's book
'Shivaji: Hindu king in Islamic India'
banned by the Maharashtra government
for writing the truth & questioning `cracks' in the Shivaji narrative
BY
Dr. Amarjit Singh
Khalistan Affairs Centre
956-National Press Building, Washington DC 20045 USA
Tel: 202-637-9210 :: Fax: 202-637-9211
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ss:Washington DC: January 14, 2004:
There are a few elderly people who are still alive in this world - mostly in Israel - who vivdly remember Hitler's Germany of the 1930's when the ruling Nazi Party's goons, called Schutzstaffel or SS 'Brown Shirts', used to go around murdering Jews/Gypsys, beating up uncooperative journalists and rampaging through libraries and booshops destroying books/journals they thought were unpatriotic or critical of Adolf Hitler or the 'New order' in Germany. That period in Germany's history is, and will always be, remembered by the infamous night of November 09, 1938 called Kristallnacht.A few days ago - on January 05, 2004 - a similar scene was repeated in the city of Pune (old name Poona), in Maharashtra state, of the world's socalled largest oligarchic Democracy - India - where a mob, of the fascist "Sambhaji Brigade" of the Maratha Maha Sangh, (a clone of the Shiv Sena and an ally of the ruling BJP) "destroyed" thousands of rare manuscripts and other priceless articles & books at the world-famous 87 years old Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune. The Maratha Maha Sangh goons were protesting that they had heard that some portions of a recent historical book ('Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India' - Oxford University Press) they did not like, was researched at that Institute by an American author, Professor James W. Laine, of Macalster College, St. Paul, Minnesota. In that book the author, had thanked 80 years old, Dr. Srikant Bahulkar, a member of the institute's managing committee, and a respected Sanskrit scholor in the preface. Today the The Congress party government of Maharashtra state banned the controversial book, Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India by James W. Laine. Announcing the decisions after the weekly Cabiner meeting, the Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, is reported to have said that he had signed the proposal to that effect. The banning comes several weeks after the book's publisher, Oxford University Press, withdrew it from the Indian market.
The controversy was started two months ago when the book on Shivaji (who died in 1680 AD and is a warrior/hero of the lower caste Marathas and is remembered as a back-stabbing villain by the Muslims) was released in India, in October 2003. Soon apparatchiks (read goons) of Mumbai-based, Raj Thackeray's fascist Shiv Sena waylaid the above mentioned respected Sanskrit scholor, eighty years old Dr. Srikant Bahulkar, and blackened his face with shoe polish by force - an act considered the 'grandmother of all insults' in South Asia - for cooperating with Prof. James W. Laine who researched his book with help from the world-renowned and rare collection of 150,000 books and 80,000 rare manuscripts preserved at the world-renowned 87-years old Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, which was founded on July 06, 1917,
to commemorate the work of one Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar.We believe the Neo-Nazi Shiv Sena (a fascist Maratha outfit) was angered that the book's American author, Professor James W. Laine, questionfd `cracks' in the Shivaji narrative and did not glorify Shivaji, (died 1680 AD) enough. Intimidating people is Shiv Sena's modus operandi and they selected Dr. Srikant Bahulkar and the American Professor to make an example of the duo so that other scholors may take heed when writing Indian history. It is our impression after talking with Professsor James Laine in St. Paul today that the learned Professor has repeated some historical facts, after years of research, about Shivaji's father. He has also repeated the story - which has been a part of South Asian folklore for over three centuries - about how the wily Shivaji, a Maratha chiefton/brigand who later crowned himself a king of Maratha land, in 1674 AD, had stabbed to death an unarmed and unsuspecting adversory, one General Afzal Khan, who under a flag of truce, embraced Shivaji in a welcome gesture.
The entire controversy in India about Professor Laine's book died down about two months ago after the book was withdrawn from the Indian marketplace and an apology by the publisher and author of the book was tendered and accepted by the Shiv Sena leader Raj Thackeray (son of Bal Thackeray) who in return apologized from the innocent victim, (Dr. Srikant Bahulkar, whose face was blackened) for the 'exhuberance' of his followers.
Everyone thought in November 2003 that the controversy about Prof. Laine's book had been put to rest with the exchange of apologies. Matters remained quiet on the surface but, political opportunism was at work 'underground'. Envious (and enthused) by the visibility and press coverage the Shiv Sena had generated for itself from the book episode two months earlier, another fascist organization, the Sambhaji Brigade, (the youth arm of a lesser known outfit called the Maratha Maha Sangh - MMS), decided to trumpet its love for Shivaji and mobilised a mob of about 150 Hindu youth for some 'direct action'. On January 05, 2004 the mob, which had been mustered outside the city were driven to the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune in jeeps. Once inside the building the mob, went to work, like German Storm troopers on the infamous Kristallnacht, and destroyed thousands of rare manuscripts and other priceless articles at the Institute claiming that they had come to protest the alleged "disparaging" remarks in the book about Shivaji.
According to our sources Maratha Maha Sangh thugs went about their business with a ruthlessness that left a trail of destruction of the Institute's prized possessions. Twenty-five valuable manuscripts in Sanskrit, Pali and Ardh Magadhi were stolen. So were 11th century copper plates, spearheads, rare relics and a portrait of Shivaji acquired from a French museum. A clay tablet dating back to the Assyrian civilisation (600 BC) was completely destroyed. The MMS activists also damaged a manuscript of the Mahabharata from 10 AD, palm leaf inscriptions, Vedic literature besides countless other books and manuscripts. The Telegraph newspaper of Calcutta has carried a report headlined, "
Bonfire of cupboard of history - Pune institute continues to count the losses from attack by Sambhaji Brigade," which can be read by clicking at: > http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040119/asp/frontpage/story_2802420.asp# <The camera crews of two Marathi television channels kept themselves busy filming the miscreants wreaking havoc instead of calling the police. Many of the MMS members couldn't resist the temptation of making statements in front of the cameras, although all they could say to explain their rage was that there was "something wrong" in the book but nobody had read it. According to the Police the mastermind of the attack had visited the institute earlier to reconoiter the design of the building and make a note of the staff's routine. The attack was launched on January 05 as soon as the support staff opened the institute's gates. The pattern of the attack was simple and well rehersed. The MMS thugs forced their way into the building, snapped off power and telephone cables, smashed the windowpanes and broke chairs, tables, and trashed nearly 50 cupboards full of books, priceless manuscripts and research material. The trail of damage and destruction left by the Sambhaji Brigade thugs include, hundreds of valuable manuscripts in Sanskrit, Pali, Ardh Magadhi, Eleventh century copper plates, portrait of Shivaji, idol of Ganesha, spearheads, artefacts and a calendar disc all stolen. Destroyed items include a Statue of Goddess Sharada, a 600 BC Assyrian clay tablet. Damaged items include rare10 AD manuscript of the Mahabharata, books on Shivaji, palm leaf inscriptions, Mohenjodaro relics, the copy of the Rig Veda used by Max Mueller and priceless research material from across the country. India's leading English fortnightly FRONTLINE has also given ink to India's 'Kristallnacht' with an article by
ANUPAMA KATAKAM headlined, "Politics of vandalism." > http://www.thehindu.com/2004/01/15/stories/2004011504731400.htm <As is usual the police turned up after the crime at the Institute and found a crowd waiting to court arrest outside the building and 72 of them could be arrested and were remanded to police custody till January 14. According to Indian media reports one Purushottam Khedekar, who founded the Maratha Maha Sangh (MMS) in 1990, extolled the act as a mark of his organisation's "true love for Shivaji" and commended the detained activists as the "real followers of Shivaji". "Sooner or later, we will manage to free them," he bragged. Media reports reveal that Purushottam Khedekar works as an executive engineer at Pune in the Public Works Department and despite being a government employee expressed his extremist views live on camera unabashedly without fearing any reprimand? Khedekar, whose wife is reported to be a BJP MLA from Vidarbha, is said to be banking on his strong political connections. Several corruption charges against Khedekar in the past haven't affected his career and he continues to tour Maharashtra state to bring about "Maratha awakening".
Not satisfied with the destruction of the Institute (and intimidation of Sanskrit scholor Dr. Srikant Bahulkar) the Maharashtra government, true to the Nazi winds now sweeping across India, has spread the word that it plans to take legal action against American Professor James W. Laine for his book titled, 'Shivaji. Hindu king in Islamic India'. They did not say on what grounds? Justice Indian style! Scholars and citizens are sceptical about the guilty being punished and almost all have blamed the political ambitions of the Maratha Maha Sangh, which is increasingly speaking the language of the Bal Thakaray's Shiv Sena.
Observors of the Indian political scene believe that India under the BJP (and its cohorts like Shiv Sena and Maratha Maha Sangh) have organized themselves to ape all the political steps, intimidating thugish tactics and procedures etc., followed by that abnoxious German fascist rable rouser, Adolph Hitler, (1889-1945) and his minority National Socialist German Worker (Nazi) party after it assumed the German Chancellor's post in 1933. Once in power the Nazi's were able to intimidate the whole German nation to fall in step till Hitler's suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin in May 1945 after Germany's defeat in World War 11. For a backgrounder on what is going on India please click at: >
http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/Main/K_Calling/kc07092003.htm <This horrible incident of an
attack on a respected research institution, set up in 1917, in a cosmopolitan city like Pune, is indicative of the bad days of Hindutva-fundamentalist frenzy in store for the people captive in the Indian map. Sikh Gurdwaras, libraries and Sikh schools in India ought to be doubly alert, and 'keep the powder dry', as these thugs can easily head in our direction.Khalistan Zindabad : Long Live Khalistan
Khalistan Calling
weekly newsletter (and its archives) can be viewed on the South Asia Tribune site at:>
http://www.satribune.com >by clicking on the 'SIKH CORNER" on the Front Page.
It can also be seen by clicking at: >
http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/Main/K_Calling/kc01142003.htm <.The above newsletter has been published in the leading Punjabi-
English newspaper of the Sikh diaspora, Surrey Canada-based CHARHDI KALA, Issue of January 14-20, 2004 :: Vol. 20 : No. 02. Last week's Khalistan Calling is available on the Khalistan Affairs Centre website at: (> http://www.khalistan-affairs.org/Main/K_Calling/kc01072003.htm <) The Khalistan Calling newsletter was also published in the second week of January 2004, in the Vancouver-based PUNJAB GUARDIAN, and AKAL GUARDIAN, Toronto-based SANJH SAVERA, Calgary-based SIKH VIRSA and numerous other Punjabi/English weekly and monthly publications which cater to the three million strong Sikh diaspora in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.Thank you for browsing
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