01.09.05
Why would a government want to ban sati worship? Because it would otherwise be encouraging satis’, i.e. wives’ burning themselves at husbands’ funeral pyre? Is the opposition to sati based on the law against suicide? Is sati suicide? Fundamentally, no. Because suicide is born of sorrow, whereas sati is born of love. Sorrow is something one does not want, let alone its ultimate manifestation of suicide. But love is ever sought after and thus can sati, its ultimate expression, be a negative thing that ought to be banned? Sati must be celebrated as a celebration of love.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Reservations - thinking out of the box
Ram Viswanathan of chennailiving.blogspot.com wrote as below:
Monday, May 22, 2006
Reservation Row
The divisive politics of reservation has raised its ugly head again and there have been protest rallies and agitations all across India, but Tamil Nadu has been rather quiet in this front. In fact, there was pro-quota rally in Chennai. What else do you expect from a state where reservation is the norm and there is very little left to reserve.
Quotas in India has taken a life of its own since independence. Even Dr. Ambedkar advocated reservation for Schedule Castes & Scheduled Tribes only for 10 years. But politicians have since extended and expanded the scope to include several other communities under the backward class umbrella.
While affirmative actions elsewhere (US in particular) is aimed at numerically smaller minorities, it is the other way around in India. The focus of rigid quotas in India is aimed towards numerically majority communities. This, if not anything else makes the current anti-reservation agitation futile. Politicians of all hue and cry in India will not say or do anything that might even remotely impact their perceived vote bank.
In a recent interview with Arjun Singh, federal minister responsible for these things, Karan Thapar literally ripped him apart from various angles but the veteran politician had a stock reply "It has been decided by the Parliament and he is only implementing the will of the Parliament".
It is interesting that these Parliamentarians are very coy when comes to their own backyard and have a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude. They have repeatedly failed to allocate 1/3rd of the seats to women. If Mr. Arjun Singh is so bent on increasing the quota regimen, why not implement OBC & women quotas to all elected bodies first?
One thing is clear though, quota system has come to stay and will only proliferate. No politician will touch the reservation holy cow for the fear of getting burned. MGR tried to exclude the creamy layer but had to make a hasty retreat. He was so severely beaten in a federal election, that he not only removed the creamy layer exclusion clause but also increased the BC quota to 50%, one of the highest in India.
My take on this no different from Jawaharlal Nehru.. "I dislike any kind of reservations.." According to Karan Thapar, this is what Mr. Nehru said in 1961..
On the 27th of June 1961 wrote to the Chief Ministers of the day as follows: I dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second rate or third rate. The moment we encourage the second rate, we are lost. And then he adds pointedly: This way lies not only folly, but also disaster.
Having said that, I am for:
1. Helping the truly needy to get to ahead in life.
2. Catching them young. Having affirmative action from kindergarten levels.
3. Excluding creamy layer from any assistance / scholarship program
4. Providing tools of upliftment rather devising subjugation mechanisms
What's your take on this ?
I responded to his blog as below: [I posted as comment in his blog]
What you say on the reservations row is absolutely sensible. However, I would like to add that when seats are limited, reservations are inevitable. The question is, how do we reserve? I suppose the most sensible way is to reserve on the basis of merit. But today even a meritorious reservation would in large measure be a reservation for the moneyed. For you get better tuitions to ensure your merit. Therefore before we talk of merit, we must ensure equality of opportunity to everyone. The bottom line would be - the right to education for everyone. Even here we come back to square one - with limited seats to even basic educational institutions, whom do we reserve?
So what's the way out?
22.05.06
Should there be reservations on the basis of caste? If we reserve on the basis of caste, is it not stratifying present day Indian citizens into castes, when our ideal is to do away with the traditional caste system which we recognise was pernicious?
The fact is reservations already exist and the clamour is for more communities to be reserved. While the constitution framers’ intentions were noble and they hoped that before long there would be no need for reservations because the circumstances that necessitated reservations - the marginalisation of sections of society - would no longer exist. Now, even those who have become mainstream do not want even a review of reservations. The creamy layer yardstick suggested by the Supreme Court corrects the situation to a degree, but a more thorough evaluation of the effect of over 50 years of reservations is called for.
Though pro-reservationists criticize the merit argument of the anti-reservationists, they would have to accept some merit in the ‘merit’ argument because there is no other way they would be able to shortlist the candidates amongst the reserved category. It is always likely that there would be less seats than the number of candidates.
02.05.06
Anti reservationists are never going to go far because the pro-reservationists are simply a larger number. So there is no point in raising the issue on the basis of reasonableness of the stand. It is going to be resolved only on the basis of who is going to muster large public support and the only way the pro and anti divisions can be resolved, taking all the complexities of history and current ground realities, particularly political realities into account is to reserve everyone on the following basis:
a) Merit – a certain percentage for the top scorers.
b) Wealth – a certain percentage for the moneyed – seats on bid.
c) Caste basis – a certain percentage to be reserved on basis of caste – within that percentage reservation according to caste percentage.
d) Poverty basis – a certain percentage for the poorest economically. The choice should be given to everyone to be tabulated as they wish either under economic category or caste category. Once they categorize themselves either way, then that should be considered permanent.
e) Sportsmen – a certain percentage for those who excel in sports.
f) Physically handicapped – a certain percentage for those who are physically handicapped.
The above is a suggestive list. Many more categories can be added.
A list like the above should not be applicable concern by concern. That is, mandating that each institution should have all the categories each time it recruits. This is simply not pragmatic. We could say for every block of 100 employees recruited, but again there would be problems if it was a small recruitment of say 5 executives of top management that were being recruited. To get over this, we must adopt the following principle:
When the recruitment is only 1 person, then all the categories should be considered as just one category and the best should be chosen.
When there are two persons to be recruited, then it must be from the only two categories that all the categories would be broken up into. It would simply be, say, upper and lower. Upper here meaning caste wise, money wise, merit wise etc. and lower being poor caste wise, money wise and physique wise etc.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Reservation Row
The divisive politics of reservation has raised its ugly head again and there have been protest rallies and agitations all across India, but Tamil Nadu has been rather quiet in this front. In fact, there was pro-quota rally in Chennai. What else do you expect from a state where reservation is the norm and there is very little left to reserve.
Quotas in India has taken a life of its own since independence. Even Dr. Ambedkar advocated reservation for Schedule Castes & Scheduled Tribes only for 10 years. But politicians have since extended and expanded the scope to include several other communities under the backward class umbrella.
While affirmative actions elsewhere (US in particular) is aimed at numerically smaller minorities, it is the other way around in India. The focus of rigid quotas in India is aimed towards numerically majority communities. This, if not anything else makes the current anti-reservation agitation futile. Politicians of all hue and cry in India will not say or do anything that might even remotely impact their perceived vote bank.
In a recent interview with Arjun Singh, federal minister responsible for these things, Karan Thapar literally ripped him apart from various angles but the veteran politician had a stock reply "It has been decided by the Parliament and he is only implementing the will of the Parliament".
It is interesting that these Parliamentarians are very coy when comes to their own backyard and have a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude. They have repeatedly failed to allocate 1/3rd of the seats to women. If Mr. Arjun Singh is so bent on increasing the quota regimen, why not implement OBC & women quotas to all elected bodies first?
One thing is clear though, quota system has come to stay and will only proliferate. No politician will touch the reservation holy cow for the fear of getting burned. MGR tried to exclude the creamy layer but had to make a hasty retreat. He was so severely beaten in a federal election, that he not only removed the creamy layer exclusion clause but also increased the BC quota to 50%, one of the highest in India.
My take on this no different from Jawaharlal Nehru.. "I dislike any kind of reservations.." According to Karan Thapar, this is what Mr. Nehru said in 1961..
On the 27th of June 1961 wrote to the Chief Ministers of the day as follows: I dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second rate or third rate. The moment we encourage the second rate, we are lost. And then he adds pointedly: This way lies not only folly, but also disaster.
Having said that, I am for:
1. Helping the truly needy to get to ahead in life.
2. Catching them young. Having affirmative action from kindergarten levels.
3. Excluding creamy layer from any assistance / scholarship program
4. Providing tools of upliftment rather devising subjugation mechanisms
What's your take on this ?
I responded to his blog as below: [I posted as comment in his blog]
What you say on the reservations row is absolutely sensible. However, I would like to add that when seats are limited, reservations are inevitable. The question is, how do we reserve? I suppose the most sensible way is to reserve on the basis of merit. But today even a meritorious reservation would in large measure be a reservation for the moneyed. For you get better tuitions to ensure your merit. Therefore before we talk of merit, we must ensure equality of opportunity to everyone. The bottom line would be - the right to education for everyone. Even here we come back to square one - with limited seats to even basic educational institutions, whom do we reserve?
So what's the way out?
22.05.06
Should there be reservations on the basis of caste? If we reserve on the basis of caste, is it not stratifying present day Indian citizens into castes, when our ideal is to do away with the traditional caste system which we recognise was pernicious?
The fact is reservations already exist and the clamour is for more communities to be reserved. While the constitution framers’ intentions were noble and they hoped that before long there would be no need for reservations because the circumstances that necessitated reservations - the marginalisation of sections of society - would no longer exist. Now, even those who have become mainstream do not want even a review of reservations. The creamy layer yardstick suggested by the Supreme Court corrects the situation to a degree, but a more thorough evaluation of the effect of over 50 years of reservations is called for.
Though pro-reservationists criticize the merit argument of the anti-reservationists, they would have to accept some merit in the ‘merit’ argument because there is no other way they would be able to shortlist the candidates amongst the reserved category. It is always likely that there would be less seats than the number of candidates.
02.05.06
Anti reservationists are never going to go far because the pro-reservationists are simply a larger number. So there is no point in raising the issue on the basis of reasonableness of the stand. It is going to be resolved only on the basis of who is going to muster large public support and the only way the pro and anti divisions can be resolved, taking all the complexities of history and current ground realities, particularly political realities into account is to reserve everyone on the following basis:
a) Merit – a certain percentage for the top scorers.
b) Wealth – a certain percentage for the moneyed – seats on bid.
c) Caste basis – a certain percentage to be reserved on basis of caste – within that percentage reservation according to caste percentage.
d) Poverty basis – a certain percentage for the poorest economically. The choice should be given to everyone to be tabulated as they wish either under economic category or caste category. Once they categorize themselves either way, then that should be considered permanent.
e) Sportsmen – a certain percentage for those who excel in sports.
f) Physically handicapped – a certain percentage for those who are physically handicapped.
The above is a suggestive list. Many more categories can be added.
A list like the above should not be applicable concern by concern. That is, mandating that each institution should have all the categories each time it recruits. This is simply not pragmatic. We could say for every block of 100 employees recruited, but again there would be problems if it was a small recruitment of say 5 executives of top management that were being recruited. To get over this, we must adopt the following principle:
When the recruitment is only 1 person, then all the categories should be considered as just one category and the best should be chosen.
When there are two persons to be recruited, then it must be from the only two categories that all the categories would be broken up into. It would simply be, say, upper and lower. Upper here meaning caste wise, money wise, merit wise etc. and lower being poor caste wise, money wise and physique wise etc.
Murder of our man in Afghanistan
It should have been made clear by Sangha to Vajpayee that Pakistan should be treated as enemy nation and not as a nation we should befriend. Friendship, if at all, should be on our terms – Akhand Bharath. There are many idiots in India who are rooting for friendship with Pakistan because they have already accepted the reality of Pakistan. We should never accept the reality of Pakistan because that would mean accepting the ‘violability’ of India.
Following the murder of Suryanarayanan, we should help Ahmad Karzai and the Americans by sending in troops at least to protect our workers. No half measures will work. Our army should secure an area before our civilians work there.
Following the murder of Suryanarayanan, we should help Ahmad Karzai and the Americans by sending in troops at least to protect our workers. No half measures will work. Our army should secure an area before our civilians work there.
Uma Bharathi
Uma Bharthi will help Sangha in no way. If she wanted to cleanse BJP, she should have worked in close collaboration with Sangha. I think she is going to be pulled into a situation where she would become a messiah of the ‘backwards’ instead of the messiah of the Hindus that she was poised to be. What a fall!
Sangha Daksha!
Sangha is doing great by insisting that all its front organisations fall in line. Otherwise where would the parivar be?
To Kavya Vishwanathan - an open letter
06.05.06
Dear Ms. Kavya Vishwanathan,
I believe that if once a work of art comes into the public domain, it becomes everyone’s property. You cannot have proprietary rights and at the same time propagate your works. Plagiarism would be akin to theft only when it is stolen from an artist who has not yet put it on public display. Therefore, Kaviya, take whatever has happened in your stride. Prove that you have super talents by writing your next novel. You might want to give it the sub-title – (all my own creation!).
Best wishes,
Venugopal
Mumbai
Dear Ms. Kavya Vishwanathan,
I believe that if once a work of art comes into the public domain, it becomes everyone’s property. You cannot have proprietary rights and at the same time propagate your works. Plagiarism would be akin to theft only when it is stolen from an artist who has not yet put it on public display. Therefore, Kaviya, take whatever has happened in your stride. Prove that you have super talents by writing your next novel. You might want to give it the sub-title – (all my own creation!).
Best wishes,
Venugopal
Mumbai
Voting for a foisted leadership
11th May, 2006.
It is pathetic that Indians should vote for the Congress that has foisted upon them a Sonia Gandhi. The Nehru family has brought upon India its longest running tragedy in the form of Kashmir, which Nehru failed to handle properly when problems first arose there. The Congress, once a party of titans, was reduced to one of satraps by the time Nehru handed it over to his daughter. Indians, instead of seeing what he had reduced the party to and prepared a worse future for it, readily became dazzled by the Nehru charisma. And today his legacy has passed on to a foreigner. Still Indians have not learned.
Congress will ask for Sonia’s leadership. Of course, she will not take the prime-ministership from Manmohan now. She will wait for him to complete the 5-year term and make him nominate her for the next term. Or would she be on the lookout of an opportune moment to call for elections even before the 5-year term ends? She has to have her allies intact with her and also attempt to take allies away from the BJP. She may even ‘sponsor’ a third front to take away BJP’s allies. When all that job is done, she will be ready to call for elections. Or would something come up meanwhile that could give the BJP a come-back opportunity which could force Sonia to call for elections even before she is fully prepared for it, lest the BJP consolidates even further? Nothing is ever predictable about electorate's moods.
It is pathetic that Indians should vote for the Congress that has foisted upon them a Sonia Gandhi. The Nehru family has brought upon India its longest running tragedy in the form of Kashmir, which Nehru failed to handle properly when problems first arose there. The Congress, once a party of titans, was reduced to one of satraps by the time Nehru handed it over to his daughter. Indians, instead of seeing what he had reduced the party to and prepared a worse future for it, readily became dazzled by the Nehru charisma. And today his legacy has passed on to a foreigner. Still Indians have not learned.
Congress will ask for Sonia’s leadership. Of course, she will not take the prime-ministership from Manmohan now. She will wait for him to complete the 5-year term and make him nominate her for the next term. Or would she be on the lookout of an opportune moment to call for elections even before the 5-year term ends? She has to have her allies intact with her and also attempt to take allies away from the BJP. She may even ‘sponsor’ a third front to take away BJP’s allies. When all that job is done, she will be ready to call for elections. Or would something come up meanwhile that could give the BJP a come-back opportunity which could force Sonia to call for elections even before she is fully prepared for it, lest the BJP consolidates even further? Nothing is ever predictable about electorate's moods.
Shankaracharya, his arrest and aftermath - a cluster of thoughts
04.11.19
Shankaracharya – first take
Is the Shankaracharya guilty or is it a conspiracy against him?
It is improbable that a conspiracy would have been plotted that needed the carrying out of a murder.
Or is he opportunistically being implicated in a murder committed by someone else? It is unlikely to be this either, as anyone so seeking to implicate him would need to know all the facts of the case and it is not possible for any outsider to have all the background and facts of the case. But here an outside chance exists of a post-murder plot as his arrest took place after two months of the event and after the original case was closed by the police department. (?)
If the Shankaracharya were not involved, it would not take much time for him to convince anyone and everyone that he is innocent. Hasn’t he the advantage of being heard through by everyone? So it is obvious that he is involved.
Did he over the years build up a villainous gang under his command, using it progressively for murkier and murkier jobs? If this is so, how is he going to distance himself from the gang? Is he counting on his loyal gang to themselves deny that he was their ‘chief’?
Except for the diehard anti-Brahmin anti-Hindu brigade, and the impartial folks who want the ‘law to take its own course’ (which no doubt would add up to a considerable majority), there would be many who would see no gain in hanging the Shankaracharya but much benefit in freeing him. Some such persons must already have got together to save the Shankaracharya’s skin, being convinced that they would at the least get ‘punya’ in the bargain and hold a cheque which can be encashed at a later date, by way of an admission for the son, or a job for the brother etc. etc. through the Mutt’s not so inconsiderable reach.
Why is the Junior Shankaracharya so quite?
23.11.04
VHP Bandh failure
The bandh failure points to the indifferent lot the Hindus are becoming. Indifferent save when it comes to monetary matters, that is. Truly, we have to learn that if we loose our identity, we loose everything. And this is not an unspiritual truism. Even in the individual’s case, identity matters – that is, the right identity, the identification of the atma!
Law on arrest
I ought to make a study on the law of arrest. Shouldn’t there be sufficient grounds for arresting a person? Aren’t arrest and interrogation different? The irony is when a tough law of arrest like the POTA was introduced, the ‘secularists’ cried foul. Now where’s their righteousness when a Shankaracharya is arrested? Are they saying that Hindu holiness is worse than Muslim terrorism?
24.11.04
Shankaracharya – the 2nd charge
Why charge another case against the Shankaracharya? Appears they have discovered links between both the cases and it might be easier for them to pin him down with a two-pronged attack. It also means that they fear they have not come up with sufficient evidence to pin him with the case they are already straddled with.
25.11.04
Shankaracharya – witness turns hostile
With key witnesses accusing the police of torturing them to implicate the Shankaracharya, the case against the seer is as good as dead. Apart from ‘tutored’ witnesses, they do have mobile calls and bank accounts to shore up their case. Would these evidences stand scrutiny? Or do they have some sensational evidence up their sleeve? Only the coming days will tell. Meanwhile, it is clear that Sangha Parivar’s campaign for the Shankaracharya will come to have more and more takers in the days ahead.
Shankaracharya – Karunanidhi’s plot?
Did Karunanidhi plot the whole thing? After catching Veerappan, he sensed that Jayalalitha is gaining in popularity and decided that she had to be stopped somehow. A murder to implicate the Shankaracharya, he must have thought, would compromise Jayalalitha as she would hardly be in a position to go after the seer. He could then exploit the situation and erase any gains Jayalalitha might have made post-Veerappan. Jayalalitha however gave an unexpected twist to the plot by arresting the pontiff.
How could Karunanidhi’s plot have played out? He must already have been in the know of the rebellion of Sankararaman. Having decided to exploit the situation, he must have hired a professional gang to bump off Sankararaman. Of course, he would have covered his tracks in engaging this gang. He might even have engaged a ‘no questions asked’ gang. He must have gone further and got someone to use a mutt mobile phone. Which means he has a mole in the ship.
29.11.04
Shankaracharya confesses
Could the Shankaracharya’s confessions be true? If there is indeed such a confession on video, I am sure the police would have officially revealed it by now. Or would they have produced it clandestinely before Jayalalithaa for her decision? Would she in turn have asked the police to deny the confession to save the Shankaracharya and earn his eternal gratitude? If reports of the confession are not true, do not the publications run the risk of being sued or worse?
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The tragedy of Jayandra Saraswathi
Jayandra Saraswathi’s is a tragedy of epic proportions. Because he spent a lifetime in divine pursuit and had an epic fall. He was not just in pursuit of the divine, he was seen to be so and his was an enchanted life that launched a million devotees. And all gone in the 10 minutes he ‘lost his composure’. Wouldn’t the merit of a lifetime of tapas surely cushion his great fall?
30.11.04
Sushma denies Shankaracharya’s confession
Sushma Swaraj’s claim that the Shankaracharya has denied that he confessed ought not, at this juncture, be looked as anything more than a ‘defence strategy’. Being certain that during trial the prosecution would be on shaky grounds, he statement was also probably to shore up the morale of his followers. We have to survive to fight another day, might have been her insight. But the question persists, why has the prosecution hinted at womanising? Does this not indicate that there is a definite aim to tarnish the image of the godman?
Notice must be particularly made of the eagerness of NDTV reporter Pinto to conclude a ‘sleaze and sex angle’ just because an Usha was named. Has the pontiff confessed to this also?
===
Shankaracharya – trapped in his own holiness?
Someone I met, from the Tamil Brahmin community, said if the Shankaracharya confessed, he is unlikely to retract his words. Maybe his followers would forgive a momentary lapse, but how can they forgive him if they see that he is trying to wriggle out of his own words? He was also certain that the pontiff would not get bail.
==========
La Affaire Shankaracharya would lead to exploitation
There would be serious ramifications a la affaire Shankaracharya, what with the Christian missionaries having got a live a amno for riddling the Hindu faith and making it ripe for large scale conversions, the communists having got a chance to go in for a massive propaganda against Sangh Parivar, the Muslims having got an opportunity to tell the ‘secularists’ that the real terrorists are the wolves in sheeps’ clothing that the Hindu leadership is made up of and the Sonia Congress an election bonanza by discrediting the company the BJP is keeping.
==============
Shankaracharya – sex and sleaze
Now there is the report of a women writer alleging that the Shankaracharya tried to bump her off. Is it turning out that the acharya was a sex maniac and a top-rate goonda? Is the persecution right after all? Where does this leave Sangha parivar? Sangha of course is not compromised as the pontiff, while he may been close to the Sangha, was in no way a product of Sangha or even a co-traveller? But Sangha would be deeply worried as the anti-Hindu forces would go in for the kill.
Shankaracharya – the anxiety
What is going to come out of it? The wait to know is most killing. Even as the game seems to be up, people like me would like to believe that the confession did not take place. Would Sushma Swaraj be called a liar and worse if it turns out that the Shankaracharya did not deny anything to her? Of course, she would justify what she said as simply a defence strategy. Then there is the question of the actual killing. Was he involved? Would it be proved beyond indictment in court? Even if he wins the court case, would he be able to sit in the gadi again? Aren’t charges beginning to pile up against him? Shankaraman; Radhakrishnan, wife and servant; the Embranthiris from Cannanore; Usha; the writer Ms. Ramanan. What else? How much more.
Shankaracharya – the parting
At what point would Sangha say, we had no clue. He seems to be a bad penny. We are no longer backing him. But we would strain all our nerves to protect the Kanchi Mutt.
Shankaracharya – the successor
When the denouement of the Shankaracharya’s involvement comes, what would happen to the question of his successor? The proceedings so far having managed to tarnish Vijayendra Saraswathi’s image also, would he be allowed to ascend to the gadi? Would Jayendra Saraswathi be allowed to anoint anyone as successor? It is sure that Jayalalithaa would have her moles and even loyalists in the ashram and they would plot to have a new person of their choice anointed as the new Shankaracharya.
Or would there be a move to bring the Kanchi ashram under the tutelage of the Sringeri ashram? The congress might foster such a move.
What would Sangha do under such circumstances? Would it suggest a committee of eminent mahamandeleshwars in its fold to take over the ashram? What would the followers have to say? Would the followers recognize their well wishers and the ashram’s-interest-at-heart people?
01.12.04
Shankaracharya’s amorous ways?
Usha, who the police said was absconding, has turned up. If she has no complaints against the seer and the seer had every right to help someone monetarily, where’s the problem? Then there is Radha Ramanan, who said another girl was in a compromising position with the seer and the seer invited her too for a celestial trip and the girl encouraged her by saying that it is the greatest fortune that can befall anyone, to be in the amorous grip of the Shankaracharya. Now we have to wait for the mystery girl to turn up.
Usha’s medical reports
If Usha has in a jiffy submitted medical reports, she is indeed a cancer patient. But still why would the acharya want to take take out form his pre-dawn rituals to talk to a woman? Would there be smoke without fire?
If in reality the swamis, gurus and tantriks are after material power, then obviously they have not experienced spirituality. If they have not experienced spirituality, then is there an experience like spirituality at all? Or is it that most people are unable to have such an experience but nevertheless pretend to have it to get the benefit of being in the know of a much-desired commodity among the credulous faithful?
They still seem not to have come out with anything substantial on the Shankaracharya except a lot of hearsay. Why was Usha inducted in the case with a lot of media fanfare but let of later, having no direct charge on her vis-à-vis the seer except that of a besmirching campaign? Where is the videographed confession? Where is Appu? What about the bank accounts and amounts withdrawn? Has the money found its way into the hands of the conspirators? The prosecution does not seem to have anything except a mind bend on persecution. The Hindutva forces are waiting in the wings for an eagle-swoop upon its enemies.
08.12.04
The Mutt’s rebuttal
The Mutt has done the right thing in challenging the wild stories being made out of the seer’s involvement in a murder and more. Now a cine star has come into the picture. Like a TV serial, drama is unfolding in instalments. Meanwhile, its come out that Ms. Ramana was part of the smear campaign of the murdered Shankaraman in so far as she drafted the letters of the late lamented fellow. Is her allegation of sex an after-thought to bolster the motive of the seer to murder to look plausible? Maybe the whole conspiracy was hatched by her for the purpose of blackmail and when she saw that it was not working, she directed a murder plot in frustration.
=============
Case of the century
There is little doubt that the Shankaracharya case is going to be the case of the century. It could be either a straightforward murder or a plot to implicate the Shankaracharya. While ‘seer a murderer’ verdict would tarnish all gurus and even spiritual teachings, the unravelling of a plot to implicate the seer would have a profound effect on the Hindu community as it would be easy to whip up a ‘we are under siege’ sentiment among the Hindus.
10.12.04
Source of allegations
With the film star denying any immoral involvement with the Shankaracharya, we ought to find out from which source the allegation arose in the first place.
====
Prima Facie evidence, says High Court
How could the high court have come to conclusion that there exists prima facie evidence to deny the acharya bail? How can any evidence which is not substantiated be spoken of by the court as evidence at all? Their task was to grant or deny bail and this is done on the basis of charges levelled by the prosecution and the scope of bail in spite of the prosecution charges. Like if the applicant will run away from law etc. What was the persecution’s case for holding on to the accused for judicial custody? The merits or demerits of the case should have been on this aspect. But the bloody high court went beyond its brief and talked of prima facie evidence of murder. The high court will surly have to hang for this!
11.12.04
Jr. Pontiff’s brother
Now they are quizzing the Jr. pontiff’s brother. Is he, Raghu, going to confess to being the mastermind, stating that both his brother and the pontiff are innocent? But this is possible only if this is indeed a fact. One thing, however, is clear - the prosecution doesn’t seem to yet have much of a evidence to back its charges. What about the photograph in today’s Asian Age? First of all, how did Nakeeran get a copy of this picture? Hadn’t the High Court itself asked the prosecution to provide it with the videotapes? Why was the opportunity not seized and the tapes eagerly produced, so that everyone would see beyond a shadow of doubt that the police are on the right track? Having not produced the videograph and Nakeeran having to salvage its credibility, has it produced a misleading picture? Was this picture released by the police? If so, are not both actions against the law?
I commented yesterday that the High Court without any compunction almost seemed to produce a verdict that the acharya is guilty. What I felt is vindicated when we see the way a lower court the next day also refused to give the acharya bail, but instead of saying that there is prima facie evidence to pin the acharya, it said that the prosecution’s presentation seemed watertight as far as legalities go. This is the correct statement of the position and hence I feel that a case should be taken against the High Court judge who commented in an uncalled for manner.
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As far as morality goes, the question is not whether the Shankaracharya did this or that but whether he did anything against his own publicly professed beliefs.
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Could Karunanidhi have planned the whole thing through Nakeeran Gopal, believing that he can corner Jayalalithaa and gain political mileage? Karunanidhi might never have imagined the Jayalalithaa would so soon arrest the seer. Who could have been the inside person that might have been used in the plot? Could it have been Raghu? But how would they have hooked Raghu. Could they have played upon the politics of the Mutt? Would they have played upon the fear of an ‘immature’ Raghu by pointing out that his brother may not become the successor as the acharya is looking at someone else? Would Raghu have thought that his ‘future’ was thereby in peril? So they might have laid out a plan to implicate the acharya, have him step down and before you could have Kamatshi Amma, have the junior step onto the gadi? If Raghu’s motive is as I’ve put it, then again the question arises, why should he have someone prompt him to go ahead, could he not have done it all by himself? Even if such a thing crossed his mind, he is not likely to have the goons with him to do that. The plan would have unfolded only if the goons were behind the whole thing. Was the DMK leader Arcot Veerasamy the master-mind, upon nodding form Karunanidhi? Who knows, this is exactly how things might turn out to be.
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The allegation of murder against the Shankaracharya is getting to be quite like the allegation against the RSS in Gandhi’s murder. The murderer of Gandhi was Godse, but the RSS was blamed by an opportunistic Congress. Here Kathiravan must have murdered but the Acharya is been accused. Of conspiracy to murder, in both the cases.
15.12.04
Where stand’s the seer’s case? The application for bail to SC questions the High Court’s interpretation of SC’s Papu Yadav judgement.
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Why has the NDA delegation said that they do not anticipate a fair trail and therefore want the case to be shifted to another state? Do they feel that the conspirers have been able to implicate the seer so inextricably through ingenious planting of circumstantial evidences that only a probe from wholly new angles would be able to unravel the conspiracy? Seems so.
Meanwhile, the shifting of the Best Bakery case to Maharashtra has not made it a walk-over for the prosecution.
17.12.04
“I am prima facie satisfied that a case has been made out against Surjeet”, said C.B. Havelikkar, Metropolitan Magistrate in the defamation case filed against him by Anupam Kher on being accused of being a ‘RSS man’. This is no doubt the proper way to phrase the situation and not say that the accused is prima facie guilty, as the Chennai High Court said in the case of the Shankaracharya’s bail plea. Therefore a case should surely be filed against the loony judge who said it.
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I wonder whether the SC will grant bail to the seer. Will the seer call for efforts by the law enforcing agencies to catch the real culprits in the murder of Shankararaman?
Why did not the Jr. Shankarcharya issue not issue statements of the Senior’s innocence or go the meet him in prison? Maybe the Mutt did what was required in bringing out full page advertisements. But the Junior should have gone to see his Guru. Or as he taken a stand of “serves your right” as the grapevines were wont to wildly speculate?
18.12.04
So the SC did not grant even ‘interim bail’ to the Shankaracharya for performing an important puja. Why are the courts being so cruel to the Shankaracharya even though the trial has not begun?
The Supreme Court, I must say, always seems to say the right thing. In the seer’s case, it is just right that it has called for the case-diary and all related material from the Tamil Nadu police and the persecution, when they could have just dealt with the bail application on its merits. Now they seem to be reviewing the whole case and this is as good as the request for the case to be shifted outside the state. The Supreme Court is seizing itself of the whole affair to the larger picture, apparently. I can foresee the prosecution and even the Tamil Nadu government reel under the queries the SC is sure to put to them. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. January 6th would mark the beginning of the Hindu rebound.
In one report, it says that Shankaraman, the murdered temple official, had a tiff with a DMK leader over lease of some coconut grooves. Have the police investigated whether this DMK leader could have had a hand in Shankaraman’s murder out of vengeance? What about the shopkeepers he antagonised?
28.12.04
The worms that DMK cadres are, they could not stop themselves from stone-throwing merely upon hearing rumours of the death of their leader Karunanidhi even in times of calamity in the wake of the Tsunami.
30.12.04
So the year’s about to come to an end. The highlights of the year are the defeat of the BJP (and the coming to power of Sonia) and the arrest of Shankaracharya (not to speak of the end of Veerapan). Then of course the Tsunami. Could the Tsunami have been the reaction of nature to an act of extreme insensitivity in form of the incarceration of the Shankaracharya? Maybe because vital poojas could not be performed timely, a subtle balance in nature got upset and forces like the Tsunami were unleashed. Too antediluvian a theory? From the tantric point of view, may be not. Maybe not even from a Theosophic point of view.
05.01.05
After arresting the manager, they have now arrested the accountant. Both collaborators in murder? And they are blowing hot blowing cold on the Junior. Is the enquiry quite on tracks? Or are they just snooping around, hoping that they find some skeletons in unlikely places? They apparently have not found any in the cupboard.
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Is the chappie Alladi Aruna who was bumped off the same chap whom Kathiravan (accused in the Seer’s case) had known? If so, was someone trying to cover the tracks in case Alladi Aruna was questioned? The needle of suspicion points to none other than Karunanidhi.
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Well, I’ve gone on a flight of fancy above. I’ve just checked and it is a chappie called Arcot Veerasamy who was connected to Kathiravan. So much for imaginative investigation!
10.01.05
So at last the Seer has got bail. Where is he going to stay? That would be interesting as that would be a new place of pilgrimage for many. Would his presence be required in further court hearings? When are they going to frame the charges? Would he hold a press conference very soon? Would he tell his side of the story? What were in those letters which Shanakraraman wrote to him? What dark secrets did he threaten to expose? If the seer throws light on this, his position would be further strengthened. The bluff of the so-called motive would be called.
I wonder whether the TV channels would give as much prominence to the SC decision. Would they point out that it appears that Jayalalithaa acted in haste to imprison him?
BJP must up the ante by calling for Jayalalithaa’s resignation. The VHP should call for imposition of President’s rule in the state. (Not one AIADMK member thought fit to resign on the issue.)
Then, of course, there should be the bumping off of the Notorious One (who else but the fat one).
11.01.05
The arrest of the Jr. Shankaracharya even before the ink has dried on the SC judgement on Sr. Shankaracharya is proof enough that it is not law that is taking its own course but pettiness of the petty minded Chief Minister and her cronies that is taking its own course.
Another thing that is outrageous is the way any response from the Sangha Parivar, particularly BJP, is seen as cynical moves to garner votes. Man, aren’t folks allowed to have genuine feelings?
14.01.05
The televising of the ‘confession CD’ raises many disturbing questions. First, can the police make public custodial interrogation details without first putting it through the legal process? Was there a deal between the police and the television channels? Have the police the right to make such deals? And if such deals are profitable, where is the guarantee that the police would not manipulate confessions to make a killing? For example, they could have someone allege Shah Rukh Khan had unnatural sex with him. Based on this ‘complaint’, the police could arrest Shah Rukh Khan, interrogate him and later sell a CD of Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘confession’, laughing all the way to the bank. Everyone gains, including a scandal-obsessed public, except the poor Khan.
I hope the SC sees this aspect in all its seriousness and asks the TN police to explain how the CD got ‘leaked’ and take the TN government to task for allowing such sorry state of affairs. It should also ask the television channels to reveal how they got the CD, and why they were prompt to air it instead of bringing the matter to the notice of the courts.
The RSS is reportedly meeting today to discuss the Shankaracharya issue. Advani is also attending. I feel they would issue a strong statement, which would draw the counters of a huge agitation on affaire le Shankaracharya.
28.01.05
So the young seer has been denied bail. And now the TN Govt says that the Mutt is not a temple but only the residence of the Shankaracharyas (those scoundrels!). And therefore have nothing to worry about its take over?
04.03.05
The press is quite on the Shankarcharyas. And the Shankarcharyas are also quite. It might turn out to be the calm before an unexpected storm.
13.04.05
Swami Jayandra Saraswathi’s revelation that Jayalalitha and he had a problem over an hospital has brought in the factor of ulterior motive vis-à-vis Jayalalitha’s actions against the seer.
28.01.05
So the young seer has been denied bail. And now the TN Govt says that the Mutt is not a temple but only the residence of the Shankaracharyas (those scoundrels!). And therefore have nothing to worry about its take over?
24.01.05
Goondas’ Act for Kanchipuram and soft touch for POTA detunes?
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05.01.27
So would the court grant bail to the junior seer? It is almost sure that the case of murder against the seers would not stand scrutiny of the courts. While it is true that a person has been murdered and the murderer is at large, it not the court’s domain to bother about the murderer. They have only to adjudicate whether the charge brought against the accused is evidence enough for a verdict of murder. The job of catching the murder is of the police. If they fail the catch the murderer or catch the wrong person, the court is not responsible.
20.01.05.
Venkatesh’s saying that the Seer would turn the tables on his tormentors in the new year has proved to be remarkably prescient. Why, the prosecution has now been called to produce medical reports of Radhakrishnan’s injury. The SC is not taking anybody’s word at face value. To top it all, Jayalalithaa has lost her case for preventing the transfer of her corruption case to Karnataka.
Shankaracharya – first take
Is the Shankaracharya guilty or is it a conspiracy against him?
It is improbable that a conspiracy would have been plotted that needed the carrying out of a murder.
Or is he opportunistically being implicated in a murder committed by someone else? It is unlikely to be this either, as anyone so seeking to implicate him would need to know all the facts of the case and it is not possible for any outsider to have all the background and facts of the case. But here an outside chance exists of a post-murder plot as his arrest took place after two months of the event and after the original case was closed by the police department. (?)
If the Shankaracharya were not involved, it would not take much time for him to convince anyone and everyone that he is innocent. Hasn’t he the advantage of being heard through by everyone? So it is obvious that he is involved.
Did he over the years build up a villainous gang under his command, using it progressively for murkier and murkier jobs? If this is so, how is he going to distance himself from the gang? Is he counting on his loyal gang to themselves deny that he was their ‘chief’?
Except for the diehard anti-Brahmin anti-Hindu brigade, and the impartial folks who want the ‘law to take its own course’ (which no doubt would add up to a considerable majority), there would be many who would see no gain in hanging the Shankaracharya but much benefit in freeing him. Some such persons must already have got together to save the Shankaracharya’s skin, being convinced that they would at the least get ‘punya’ in the bargain and hold a cheque which can be encashed at a later date, by way of an admission for the son, or a job for the brother etc. etc. through the Mutt’s not so inconsiderable reach.
Why is the Junior Shankaracharya so quite?
23.11.04
VHP Bandh failure
The bandh failure points to the indifferent lot the Hindus are becoming. Indifferent save when it comes to monetary matters, that is. Truly, we have to learn that if we loose our identity, we loose everything. And this is not an unspiritual truism. Even in the individual’s case, identity matters – that is, the right identity, the identification of the atma!
Law on arrest
I ought to make a study on the law of arrest. Shouldn’t there be sufficient grounds for arresting a person? Aren’t arrest and interrogation different? The irony is when a tough law of arrest like the POTA was introduced, the ‘secularists’ cried foul. Now where’s their righteousness when a Shankaracharya is arrested? Are they saying that Hindu holiness is worse than Muslim terrorism?
24.11.04
Shankaracharya – the 2nd charge
Why charge another case against the Shankaracharya? Appears they have discovered links between both the cases and it might be easier for them to pin him down with a two-pronged attack. It also means that they fear they have not come up with sufficient evidence to pin him with the case they are already straddled with.
25.11.04
Shankaracharya – witness turns hostile
With key witnesses accusing the police of torturing them to implicate the Shankaracharya, the case against the seer is as good as dead. Apart from ‘tutored’ witnesses, they do have mobile calls and bank accounts to shore up their case. Would these evidences stand scrutiny? Or do they have some sensational evidence up their sleeve? Only the coming days will tell. Meanwhile, it is clear that Sangha Parivar’s campaign for the Shankaracharya will come to have more and more takers in the days ahead.
Shankaracharya – Karunanidhi’s plot?
Did Karunanidhi plot the whole thing? After catching Veerappan, he sensed that Jayalalitha is gaining in popularity and decided that she had to be stopped somehow. A murder to implicate the Shankaracharya, he must have thought, would compromise Jayalalitha as she would hardly be in a position to go after the seer. He could then exploit the situation and erase any gains Jayalalitha might have made post-Veerappan. Jayalalitha however gave an unexpected twist to the plot by arresting the pontiff.
How could Karunanidhi’s plot have played out? He must already have been in the know of the rebellion of Sankararaman. Having decided to exploit the situation, he must have hired a professional gang to bump off Sankararaman. Of course, he would have covered his tracks in engaging this gang. He might even have engaged a ‘no questions asked’ gang. He must have gone further and got someone to use a mutt mobile phone. Which means he has a mole in the ship.
29.11.04
Shankaracharya confesses
Could the Shankaracharya’s confessions be true? If there is indeed such a confession on video, I am sure the police would have officially revealed it by now. Or would they have produced it clandestinely before Jayalalithaa for her decision? Would she in turn have asked the police to deny the confession to save the Shankaracharya and earn his eternal gratitude? If reports of the confession are not true, do not the publications run the risk of being sued or worse?
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The tragedy of Jayandra Saraswathi
Jayandra Saraswathi’s is a tragedy of epic proportions. Because he spent a lifetime in divine pursuit and had an epic fall. He was not just in pursuit of the divine, he was seen to be so and his was an enchanted life that launched a million devotees. And all gone in the 10 minutes he ‘lost his composure’. Wouldn’t the merit of a lifetime of tapas surely cushion his great fall?
30.11.04
Sushma denies Shankaracharya’s confession
Sushma Swaraj’s claim that the Shankaracharya has denied that he confessed ought not, at this juncture, be looked as anything more than a ‘defence strategy’. Being certain that during trial the prosecution would be on shaky grounds, he statement was also probably to shore up the morale of his followers. We have to survive to fight another day, might have been her insight. But the question persists, why has the prosecution hinted at womanising? Does this not indicate that there is a definite aim to tarnish the image of the godman?
Notice must be particularly made of the eagerness of NDTV reporter Pinto to conclude a ‘sleaze and sex angle’ just because an Usha was named. Has the pontiff confessed to this also?
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Shankaracharya – trapped in his own holiness?
Someone I met, from the Tamil Brahmin community, said if the Shankaracharya confessed, he is unlikely to retract his words. Maybe his followers would forgive a momentary lapse, but how can they forgive him if they see that he is trying to wriggle out of his own words? He was also certain that the pontiff would not get bail.
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La Affaire Shankaracharya would lead to exploitation
There would be serious ramifications a la affaire Shankaracharya, what with the Christian missionaries having got a live a amno for riddling the Hindu faith and making it ripe for large scale conversions, the communists having got a chance to go in for a massive propaganda against Sangh Parivar, the Muslims having got an opportunity to tell the ‘secularists’ that the real terrorists are the wolves in sheeps’ clothing that the Hindu leadership is made up of and the Sonia Congress an election bonanza by discrediting the company the BJP is keeping.
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Shankaracharya – sex and sleaze
Now there is the report of a women writer alleging that the Shankaracharya tried to bump her off. Is it turning out that the acharya was a sex maniac and a top-rate goonda? Is the persecution right after all? Where does this leave Sangha parivar? Sangha of course is not compromised as the pontiff, while he may been close to the Sangha, was in no way a product of Sangha or even a co-traveller? But Sangha would be deeply worried as the anti-Hindu forces would go in for the kill.
Shankaracharya – the anxiety
What is going to come out of it? The wait to know is most killing. Even as the game seems to be up, people like me would like to believe that the confession did not take place. Would Sushma Swaraj be called a liar and worse if it turns out that the Shankaracharya did not deny anything to her? Of course, she would justify what she said as simply a defence strategy. Then there is the question of the actual killing. Was he involved? Would it be proved beyond indictment in court? Even if he wins the court case, would he be able to sit in the gadi again? Aren’t charges beginning to pile up against him? Shankaraman; Radhakrishnan, wife and servant; the Embranthiris from Cannanore; Usha; the writer Ms. Ramanan. What else? How much more.
Shankaracharya – the parting
At what point would Sangha say, we had no clue. He seems to be a bad penny. We are no longer backing him. But we would strain all our nerves to protect the Kanchi Mutt.
Shankaracharya – the successor
When the denouement of the Shankaracharya’s involvement comes, what would happen to the question of his successor? The proceedings so far having managed to tarnish Vijayendra Saraswathi’s image also, would he be allowed to ascend to the gadi? Would Jayendra Saraswathi be allowed to anoint anyone as successor? It is sure that Jayalalithaa would have her moles and even loyalists in the ashram and they would plot to have a new person of their choice anointed as the new Shankaracharya.
Or would there be a move to bring the Kanchi ashram under the tutelage of the Sringeri ashram? The congress might foster such a move.
What would Sangha do under such circumstances? Would it suggest a committee of eminent mahamandeleshwars in its fold to take over the ashram? What would the followers have to say? Would the followers recognize their well wishers and the ashram’s-interest-at-heart people?
01.12.04
Shankaracharya’s amorous ways?
Usha, who the police said was absconding, has turned up. If she has no complaints against the seer and the seer had every right to help someone monetarily, where’s the problem? Then there is Radha Ramanan, who said another girl was in a compromising position with the seer and the seer invited her too for a celestial trip and the girl encouraged her by saying that it is the greatest fortune that can befall anyone, to be in the amorous grip of the Shankaracharya. Now we have to wait for the mystery girl to turn up.
Usha’s medical reports
If Usha has in a jiffy submitted medical reports, she is indeed a cancer patient. But still why would the acharya want to take take out form his pre-dawn rituals to talk to a woman? Would there be smoke without fire?
If in reality the swamis, gurus and tantriks are after material power, then obviously they have not experienced spirituality. If they have not experienced spirituality, then is there an experience like spirituality at all? Or is it that most people are unable to have such an experience but nevertheless pretend to have it to get the benefit of being in the know of a much-desired commodity among the credulous faithful?
They still seem not to have come out with anything substantial on the Shankaracharya except a lot of hearsay. Why was Usha inducted in the case with a lot of media fanfare but let of later, having no direct charge on her vis-à-vis the seer except that of a besmirching campaign? Where is the videographed confession? Where is Appu? What about the bank accounts and amounts withdrawn? Has the money found its way into the hands of the conspirators? The prosecution does not seem to have anything except a mind bend on persecution. The Hindutva forces are waiting in the wings for an eagle-swoop upon its enemies.
08.12.04
The Mutt’s rebuttal
The Mutt has done the right thing in challenging the wild stories being made out of the seer’s involvement in a murder and more. Now a cine star has come into the picture. Like a TV serial, drama is unfolding in instalments. Meanwhile, its come out that Ms. Ramana was part of the smear campaign of the murdered Shankaraman in so far as she drafted the letters of the late lamented fellow. Is her allegation of sex an after-thought to bolster the motive of the seer to murder to look plausible? Maybe the whole conspiracy was hatched by her for the purpose of blackmail and when she saw that it was not working, she directed a murder plot in frustration.
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Case of the century
There is little doubt that the Shankaracharya case is going to be the case of the century. It could be either a straightforward murder or a plot to implicate the Shankaracharya. While ‘seer a murderer’ verdict would tarnish all gurus and even spiritual teachings, the unravelling of a plot to implicate the seer would have a profound effect on the Hindu community as it would be easy to whip up a ‘we are under siege’ sentiment among the Hindus.
10.12.04
Source of allegations
With the film star denying any immoral involvement with the Shankaracharya, we ought to find out from which source the allegation arose in the first place.
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Prima Facie evidence, says High Court
How could the high court have come to conclusion that there exists prima facie evidence to deny the acharya bail? How can any evidence which is not substantiated be spoken of by the court as evidence at all? Their task was to grant or deny bail and this is done on the basis of charges levelled by the prosecution and the scope of bail in spite of the prosecution charges. Like if the applicant will run away from law etc. What was the persecution’s case for holding on to the accused for judicial custody? The merits or demerits of the case should have been on this aspect. But the bloody high court went beyond its brief and talked of prima facie evidence of murder. The high court will surly have to hang for this!
11.12.04
Jr. Pontiff’s brother
Now they are quizzing the Jr. pontiff’s brother. Is he, Raghu, going to confess to being the mastermind, stating that both his brother and the pontiff are innocent? But this is possible only if this is indeed a fact. One thing, however, is clear - the prosecution doesn’t seem to yet have much of a evidence to back its charges. What about the photograph in today’s Asian Age? First of all, how did Nakeeran get a copy of this picture? Hadn’t the High Court itself asked the prosecution to provide it with the videotapes? Why was the opportunity not seized and the tapes eagerly produced, so that everyone would see beyond a shadow of doubt that the police are on the right track? Having not produced the videograph and Nakeeran having to salvage its credibility, has it produced a misleading picture? Was this picture released by the police? If so, are not both actions against the law?
I commented yesterday that the High Court without any compunction almost seemed to produce a verdict that the acharya is guilty. What I felt is vindicated when we see the way a lower court the next day also refused to give the acharya bail, but instead of saying that there is prima facie evidence to pin the acharya, it said that the prosecution’s presentation seemed watertight as far as legalities go. This is the correct statement of the position and hence I feel that a case should be taken against the High Court judge who commented in an uncalled for manner.
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As far as morality goes, the question is not whether the Shankaracharya did this or that but whether he did anything against his own publicly professed beliefs.
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Could Karunanidhi have planned the whole thing through Nakeeran Gopal, believing that he can corner Jayalalithaa and gain political mileage? Karunanidhi might never have imagined the Jayalalithaa would so soon arrest the seer. Who could have been the inside person that might have been used in the plot? Could it have been Raghu? But how would they have hooked Raghu. Could they have played upon the politics of the Mutt? Would they have played upon the fear of an ‘immature’ Raghu by pointing out that his brother may not become the successor as the acharya is looking at someone else? Would Raghu have thought that his ‘future’ was thereby in peril? So they might have laid out a plan to implicate the acharya, have him step down and before you could have Kamatshi Amma, have the junior step onto the gadi? If Raghu’s motive is as I’ve put it, then again the question arises, why should he have someone prompt him to go ahead, could he not have done it all by himself? Even if such a thing crossed his mind, he is not likely to have the goons with him to do that. The plan would have unfolded only if the goons were behind the whole thing. Was the DMK leader Arcot Veerasamy the master-mind, upon nodding form Karunanidhi? Who knows, this is exactly how things might turn out to be.
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The allegation of murder against the Shankaracharya is getting to be quite like the allegation against the RSS in Gandhi’s murder. The murderer of Gandhi was Godse, but the RSS was blamed by an opportunistic Congress. Here Kathiravan must have murdered but the Acharya is been accused. Of conspiracy to murder, in both the cases.
15.12.04
Where stand’s the seer’s case? The application for bail to SC questions the High Court’s interpretation of SC’s Papu Yadav judgement.
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Why has the NDA delegation said that they do not anticipate a fair trail and therefore want the case to be shifted to another state? Do they feel that the conspirers have been able to implicate the seer so inextricably through ingenious planting of circumstantial evidences that only a probe from wholly new angles would be able to unravel the conspiracy? Seems so.
Meanwhile, the shifting of the Best Bakery case to Maharashtra has not made it a walk-over for the prosecution.
17.12.04
“I am prima facie satisfied that a case has been made out against Surjeet”, said C.B. Havelikkar, Metropolitan Magistrate in the defamation case filed against him by Anupam Kher on being accused of being a ‘RSS man’. This is no doubt the proper way to phrase the situation and not say that the accused is prima facie guilty, as the Chennai High Court said in the case of the Shankaracharya’s bail plea. Therefore a case should surely be filed against the loony judge who said it.
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I wonder whether the SC will grant bail to the seer. Will the seer call for efforts by the law enforcing agencies to catch the real culprits in the murder of Shankararaman?
Why did not the Jr. Shankarcharya issue not issue statements of the Senior’s innocence or go the meet him in prison? Maybe the Mutt did what was required in bringing out full page advertisements. But the Junior should have gone to see his Guru. Or as he taken a stand of “serves your right” as the grapevines were wont to wildly speculate?
18.12.04
So the SC did not grant even ‘interim bail’ to the Shankaracharya for performing an important puja. Why are the courts being so cruel to the Shankaracharya even though the trial has not begun?
The Supreme Court, I must say, always seems to say the right thing. In the seer’s case, it is just right that it has called for the case-diary and all related material from the Tamil Nadu police and the persecution, when they could have just dealt with the bail application on its merits. Now they seem to be reviewing the whole case and this is as good as the request for the case to be shifted outside the state. The Supreme Court is seizing itself of the whole affair to the larger picture, apparently. I can foresee the prosecution and even the Tamil Nadu government reel under the queries the SC is sure to put to them. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. January 6th would mark the beginning of the Hindu rebound.
In one report, it says that Shankaraman, the murdered temple official, had a tiff with a DMK leader over lease of some coconut grooves. Have the police investigated whether this DMK leader could have had a hand in Shankaraman’s murder out of vengeance? What about the shopkeepers he antagonised?
28.12.04
The worms that DMK cadres are, they could not stop themselves from stone-throwing merely upon hearing rumours of the death of their leader Karunanidhi even in times of calamity in the wake of the Tsunami.
30.12.04
So the year’s about to come to an end. The highlights of the year are the defeat of the BJP (and the coming to power of Sonia) and the arrest of Shankaracharya (not to speak of the end of Veerapan). Then of course the Tsunami. Could the Tsunami have been the reaction of nature to an act of extreme insensitivity in form of the incarceration of the Shankaracharya? Maybe because vital poojas could not be performed timely, a subtle balance in nature got upset and forces like the Tsunami were unleashed. Too antediluvian a theory? From the tantric point of view, may be not. Maybe not even from a Theosophic point of view.
05.01.05
After arresting the manager, they have now arrested the accountant. Both collaborators in murder? And they are blowing hot blowing cold on the Junior. Is the enquiry quite on tracks? Or are they just snooping around, hoping that they find some skeletons in unlikely places? They apparently have not found any in the cupboard.
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Is the chappie Alladi Aruna who was bumped off the same chap whom Kathiravan (accused in the Seer’s case) had known? If so, was someone trying to cover the tracks in case Alladi Aruna was questioned? The needle of suspicion points to none other than Karunanidhi.
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Well, I’ve gone on a flight of fancy above. I’ve just checked and it is a chappie called Arcot Veerasamy who was connected to Kathiravan. So much for imaginative investigation!
10.01.05
So at last the Seer has got bail. Where is he going to stay? That would be interesting as that would be a new place of pilgrimage for many. Would his presence be required in further court hearings? When are they going to frame the charges? Would he hold a press conference very soon? Would he tell his side of the story? What were in those letters which Shanakraraman wrote to him? What dark secrets did he threaten to expose? If the seer throws light on this, his position would be further strengthened. The bluff of the so-called motive would be called.
I wonder whether the TV channels would give as much prominence to the SC decision. Would they point out that it appears that Jayalalithaa acted in haste to imprison him?
BJP must up the ante by calling for Jayalalithaa’s resignation. The VHP should call for imposition of President’s rule in the state. (Not one AIADMK member thought fit to resign on the issue.)
Then, of course, there should be the bumping off of the Notorious One (who else but the fat one).
11.01.05
The arrest of the Jr. Shankaracharya even before the ink has dried on the SC judgement on Sr. Shankaracharya is proof enough that it is not law that is taking its own course but pettiness of the petty minded Chief Minister and her cronies that is taking its own course.
Another thing that is outrageous is the way any response from the Sangha Parivar, particularly BJP, is seen as cynical moves to garner votes. Man, aren’t folks allowed to have genuine feelings?
14.01.05
The televising of the ‘confession CD’ raises many disturbing questions. First, can the police make public custodial interrogation details without first putting it through the legal process? Was there a deal between the police and the television channels? Have the police the right to make such deals? And if such deals are profitable, where is the guarantee that the police would not manipulate confessions to make a killing? For example, they could have someone allege Shah Rukh Khan had unnatural sex with him. Based on this ‘complaint’, the police could arrest Shah Rukh Khan, interrogate him and later sell a CD of Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘confession’, laughing all the way to the bank. Everyone gains, including a scandal-obsessed public, except the poor Khan.
I hope the SC sees this aspect in all its seriousness and asks the TN police to explain how the CD got ‘leaked’ and take the TN government to task for allowing such sorry state of affairs. It should also ask the television channels to reveal how they got the CD, and why they were prompt to air it instead of bringing the matter to the notice of the courts.
The RSS is reportedly meeting today to discuss the Shankaracharya issue. Advani is also attending. I feel they would issue a strong statement, which would draw the counters of a huge agitation on affaire le Shankaracharya.
28.01.05
So the young seer has been denied bail. And now the TN Govt says that the Mutt is not a temple but only the residence of the Shankaracharyas (those scoundrels!). And therefore have nothing to worry about its take over?
04.03.05
The press is quite on the Shankarcharyas. And the Shankarcharyas are also quite. It might turn out to be the calm before an unexpected storm.
13.04.05
Swami Jayandra Saraswathi’s revelation that Jayalalitha and he had a problem over an hospital has brought in the factor of ulterior motive vis-à-vis Jayalalitha’s actions against the seer.
28.01.05
So the young seer has been denied bail. And now the TN Govt says that the Mutt is not a temple but only the residence of the Shankaracharyas (those scoundrels!). And therefore have nothing to worry about its take over?
24.01.05
Goondas’ Act for Kanchipuram and soft touch for POTA detunes?
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05.01.27
So would the court grant bail to the junior seer? It is almost sure that the case of murder against the seers would not stand scrutiny of the courts. While it is true that a person has been murdered and the murderer is at large, it not the court’s domain to bother about the murderer. They have only to adjudicate whether the charge brought against the accused is evidence enough for a verdict of murder. The job of catching the murder is of the police. If they fail the catch the murderer or catch the wrong person, the court is not responsible.
20.01.05.
Venkatesh’s saying that the Seer would turn the tables on his tormentors in the new year has proved to be remarkably prescient. Why, the prosecution has now been called to produce medical reports of Radhakrishnan’s injury. The SC is not taking anybody’s word at face value. To top it all, Jayalalithaa has lost her case for preventing the transfer of her corruption case to Karnataka.
Mayawati and the Taj
Mayawati and the Taj
What exactly is Mayawati being accused of? Is it that she started digging around the Taj to build malls, hotels, parks and such stuff for attracting tourists? Surely, that’s the thing to be done, is it not? For isn’t Taj all about tourism? I think the Taj Corridor is a fine project but profiteering out of it is damnable.
What exactly is Mayawati being accused of? Is it that she started digging around the Taj to build malls, hotels, parks and such stuff for attracting tourists? Surely, that’s the thing to be done, is it not? For isn’t Taj all about tourism? I think the Taj Corridor is a fine project but profiteering out of it is damnable.
Shibu Soren
26.07.04
Shibu Soren
A thirty year old case resurfacing after an interregnum of silence is somewhat unfair to Shibu Soren. I think the court should simply have taken up the case, sending legal notices to the characters concerned, the law taking its own course. It should indeed be asked, who got the whole thing rolling once again. The political motive would be obvious then.
Shibu Soren
A thirty year old case resurfacing after an interregnum of silence is somewhat unfair to Shibu Soren. I think the court should simply have taken up the case, sending legal notices to the characters concerned, the law taking its own course. It should indeed be asked, who got the whole thing rolling once again. The political motive would be obvious then.
Vedanta
23.07.04
Vedanta
When we have a “Vedantic” outlook, we tend not to bring within our vision the negatives of anyone or anything. Vedanta itself being a stage arrived at after negation of so many coarse stages on the way up to the subtler stages, being ignorant of the negatives is not prescribed in Vedanta. If we have to realise the negative in order to transcend, then social negatives too need not be shied away from by the prospective Vedanti, unless of course it is believed that the Vedanti has no need to consider the social aspect of the human reality. But the Vedanti cannot be indifferent to the sufferings of other living beings. He would certainly intervene to ease their suffering. For that he has to be concerned about the happenings about and around him. Vedanta is not about an individual escaping the suffering world, it is also about the individual, being free from suffering, bringing the light of freedom to others. It is not possible that an enlightened being would have anything else to do but to bring enlightenment to others.
Once you are free, you are a new being. Then you don’t have anything to do. You will simply cause things to be done.
Vedanta
When we have a “Vedantic” outlook, we tend not to bring within our vision the negatives of anyone or anything. Vedanta itself being a stage arrived at after negation of so many coarse stages on the way up to the subtler stages, being ignorant of the negatives is not prescribed in Vedanta. If we have to realise the negative in order to transcend, then social negatives too need not be shied away from by the prospective Vedanti, unless of course it is believed that the Vedanti has no need to consider the social aspect of the human reality. But the Vedanti cannot be indifferent to the sufferings of other living beings. He would certainly intervene to ease their suffering. For that he has to be concerned about the happenings about and around him. Vedanta is not about an individual escaping the suffering world, it is also about the individual, being free from suffering, bringing the light of freedom to others. It is not possible that an enlightened being would have anything else to do but to bring enlightenment to others.
Once you are free, you are a new being. Then you don’t have anything to do. You will simply cause things to be done.
CPM Politics
12.07.04
CPM Politics
Would CPM’s protest cause a rollback in some budget proposals? If there is no rollback, wouldn’t the CPM be in a ridiculous position of bearing a government which goes against its tenets? Or would they continue to sustain the government fearing a BJP comeback if they withdraw support? I think more than loving their own ideology, they detest Sangha’s ideology and would not want to give any ground to BJP even if it means losing their own credibility. They would eventually want to support a Mulayalam third front but they can’t without BJP support, can they? If the Marxists withdraw support to Congress, can the BJP bring to power, say, a George Fernandes led Third Front government? 145 of Congress + 35 of Laloo + 20 of Mayawati + 35 of DMK group = 235 will remain on the Congress side. If Marxists remain neutral, a third front Government can certainly come to power. But don’t expect the Marxists to remain neutral so long as the BJP is in the picture. The Marxists might withdraw support to Congress only if they are sure that a BJP or a BJP propped government does not come to power. In that case, they can look forward to general elections again and they might be confident that they can better their position. What then? Would they not once again have to go back to the Congress? Thus, seen from all sides, there is absolutely no question of the Left Front pursuing any adventure. The Congress can run the Government as it wants and run it as it wants it will, so as to increase its popularity. Really, the Congress has nothing to lose. It is in a win-win situation.
CPM Politics
Would CPM’s protest cause a rollback in some budget proposals? If there is no rollback, wouldn’t the CPM be in a ridiculous position of bearing a government which goes against its tenets? Or would they continue to sustain the government fearing a BJP comeback if they withdraw support? I think more than loving their own ideology, they detest Sangha’s ideology and would not want to give any ground to BJP even if it means losing their own credibility. They would eventually want to support a Mulayalam third front but they can’t without BJP support, can they? If the Marxists withdraw support to Congress, can the BJP bring to power, say, a George Fernandes led Third Front government? 145 of Congress + 35 of Laloo + 20 of Mayawati + 35 of DMK group = 235 will remain on the Congress side. If Marxists remain neutral, a third front Government can certainly come to power. But don’t expect the Marxists to remain neutral so long as the BJP is in the picture. The Marxists might withdraw support to Congress only if they are sure that a BJP or a BJP propped government does not come to power. In that case, they can look forward to general elections again and they might be confident that they can better their position. What then? Would they not once again have to go back to the Congress? Thus, seen from all sides, there is absolutely no question of the Left Front pursuing any adventure. The Congress can run the Government as it wants and run it as it wants it will, so as to increase its popularity. Really, the Congress has nothing to lose. It is in a win-win situation.
Basic education
09.07.04
Basic education
What an ignoramus I am, not being any wise to matters pertaining to the budget, economy, stock-exchange and suchlike.
Basic education
What an ignoramus I am, not being any wise to matters pertaining to the budget, economy, stock-exchange and suchlike.
Of Tainted Ministers and RSS Governors
Of Tainted Ministers and RSS Governors
It is outrageous that the Congress government should think that charge-sheeters are good enough to be ministers but if a person is with an RSS background, even if he has not ever figured even in a FIR, he should not be anywhere near power, least of all as Governors.
It is outrageous that the Congress government should think that charge-sheeters are good enough to be ministers but if a person is with an RSS background, even if he has not ever figured even in a FIR, he should not be anywhere near power, least of all as Governors.
Triple Talaq, Smriti & Shruti
05.07.04
Triple Talaq,
Smriti & Shruti
Apropos your letter to Mid-Day, there is a point I wish to raise on the issue which might interest you. For all practical purposes, as of now, talaq thrice uttered is enough to end an Islamic marriage contract. The debate is on whether it is the Quaranic injunctions on the subject that have led to this felicity in divorcing a women or whether it is the wrong interpretation of Quranic injunctions. Muslim Law Board seems to feel that the problem is not in the Quranic injunction but the way the Quranic injunction on the matter is gone about that is at fault.
Triple Talaq,
Smriti & Shruti
Apropos your letter to Mid-Day, there is a point I wish to raise on the issue which might interest you. For all practical purposes, as of now, talaq thrice uttered is enough to end an Islamic marriage contract. The debate is on whether it is the Quaranic injunctions on the subject that have led to this felicity in divorcing a women or whether it is the wrong interpretation of Quranic injunctions. Muslim Law Board seems to feel that the problem is not in the Quranic injunction but the way the Quranic injunction on the matter is gone about that is at fault.
Ram Jethmalani
Ram Jethmalani
In a recent article, Ram Jethmalani said that so long as the ‘tainted’ ministers were not pronounced guilty in finality by the courts, they are blemishless. The law does not recognise it any other way, he said. But hasn’t the law to say something about a charge-sheeted person? A charge-sheeted person, whatever his status at the end of the process of law, is in the category of being on the radar of the judiciary.
In a recent article, Ram Jethmalani said that so long as the ‘tainted’ ministers were not pronounced guilty in finality by the courts, they are blemishless. The law does not recognise it any other way, he said. But hasn’t the law to say something about a charge-sheeted person? A charge-sheeted person, whatever his status at the end of the process of law, is in the category of being on the radar of the judiciary.
Abdul Kalam
30.06.04
Abdul Kalam
President Abdul Kalam fell in my estimation the day be read out the address to Parliament which said that the previous government was communal. Even if the address had Gujarat in mind, was it not a fact that it was a reaction to the ghastly incident of Godhra?
Abdul Kalam
President Abdul Kalam fell in my estimation the day be read out the address to Parliament which said that the previous government was communal. Even if the address had Gujarat in mind, was it not a fact that it was a reaction to the ghastly incident of Godhra?
Continuum
There is little doubt that continuum is ultimate. So why don’t I persist in it? Or am I being done in by the law of destiny.
11.05.05
Language for communication is the lesser of the uses of language. The main or more vital use of language is in helping you to awake to your potential.
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Shri Aurobindo’s exposition of the many levels of consciousness within us is revealing. Continuum would certainly be at a higher level. The point is to persist in continuum disregarding consciousness at all other levels (below it, no doubt) in spite of continuum from those levels bombarding for your attention.
When we say everything is in the mind we mean where we keep our attention. Try it at the higher level of continuum.
What is the basis of continuum? Language is being used. Language is being used at its optimum. So a power is the residue. The power that is verily divine.
Would continuum solve the trick of overcoming all problems and living a life enchanted? Yes, I must say, if you put your heart to it. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, unless you are coming, you will not be happy. Be calm and whatever your circumstances, you would only find them amusing and continue to retain your inner peace. Be calm! Easier said than done. How do we do it? That’s the question the answer to which would make one a Guru. Well, I say, through continuum. (What continuum is is a patented matter, chum, so see me personally if you want to get the hang of it.)
11.05.05
Language for communication is the lesser of the uses of language. The main or more vital use of language is in helping you to awake to your potential.
==============
Shri Aurobindo’s exposition of the many levels of consciousness within us is revealing. Continuum would certainly be at a higher level. The point is to persist in continuum disregarding consciousness at all other levels (below it, no doubt) in spite of continuum from those levels bombarding for your attention.
When we say everything is in the mind we mean where we keep our attention. Try it at the higher level of continuum.
28.01.05
What is the basis of continuum? Language is being used. Language is being used at its optimum. So a power is the residue. The power that is verily divine.
Would continuum solve the trick of overcoming all problems and living a life enchanted? Yes, I must say, if you put your heart to it. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, unless you are coming, you will not be happy. Be calm and whatever your circumstances, you would only find them amusing and continue to retain your inner peace. Be calm! Easier said than done. How do we do it? That’s the question the answer to which would make one a Guru. Well, I say, through continuum. (What continuum is is a patented matter, chum, so see me personally if you want to get the hang of it.)
Modi
Modi
What was the need for the BJP (or Vajpayee, if you will) to rake up Gujarat after the elections? I think we have to get to the very depths of the problem. Let’s start from Sangha. Why, let’s go even deeper and start from the shakha itself. What the shakha is meant to do is to create the swayamsevak, the proponent of Hindutva. Along with the vision of Hindutva, shakha imbues swayamsevaks with sufficient emotion and discipline to convert the vision of Hindutva into the reality of Hindu Rashtra or Bharat Vaibhav. Having being thus imbued, the world’s a stage for the swayamsevak. For that’s the whole purpose. Handsome is handsome does. Thus fortified, the swayamsevaks ‘enter’ into the various fields and facets of life, to bring forth the vision of Sangha therein.
Among other fields, swayamsevaks have entered into the field of politics. Now, fifty years on, how much of Sangha vision have they brought to bear in the field of politics? Or at least, how reflective of Sangha vision is their chosen vehicle, the BJP?
Is the aim of the BJP to win political power? Or is it to suffuse the political field with the vision of Hindutva? Is it possible for the BJP to suffuse the political field with Hindutva unless it wins political power? I think political power must be reflective of Hindutva power and not a means to suffice the field with Hindutva. For Hindutva cannot come out of political power. Hindutva is from below to top and cannot be from top to bottom.
Therefore the BJP enthusiasts who want to keep Modi out of the Maharashtra campaign so that Hindutva does not stand in the way of power is only standing the vision of Sangha on its head.
But one thing I must realise about Sangha. While Sangha’s ideal has been spelt out by Doctorji himself and since it is the vision of Hindutva, the ideal is eternal and is free to be possessed by whoever wishes to possess it. But the strategy of Sangha would ever be decided only by its ahdikaris, and the case of BJP is one of strategy, we have to leave the last word to the Adhikaris.
What was the need for the BJP (or Vajpayee, if you will) to rake up Gujarat after the elections? I think we have to get to the very depths of the problem. Let’s start from Sangha. Why, let’s go even deeper and start from the shakha itself. What the shakha is meant to do is to create the swayamsevak, the proponent of Hindutva. Along with the vision of Hindutva, shakha imbues swayamsevaks with sufficient emotion and discipline to convert the vision of Hindutva into the reality of Hindu Rashtra or Bharat Vaibhav. Having being thus imbued, the world’s a stage for the swayamsevak. For that’s the whole purpose. Handsome is handsome does. Thus fortified, the swayamsevaks ‘enter’ into the various fields and facets of life, to bring forth the vision of Sangha therein.
Among other fields, swayamsevaks have entered into the field of politics. Now, fifty years on, how much of Sangha vision have they brought to bear in the field of politics? Or at least, how reflective of Sangha vision is their chosen vehicle, the BJP?
Is the aim of the BJP to win political power? Or is it to suffuse the political field with the vision of Hindutva? Is it possible for the BJP to suffuse the political field with Hindutva unless it wins political power? I think political power must be reflective of Hindutva power and not a means to suffice the field with Hindutva. For Hindutva cannot come out of political power. Hindutva is from below to top and cannot be from top to bottom.
Therefore the BJP enthusiasts who want to keep Modi out of the Maharashtra campaign so that Hindutva does not stand in the way of power is only standing the vision of Sangha on its head.
But one thing I must realise about Sangha. While Sangha’s ideal has been spelt out by Doctorji himself and since it is the vision of Hindutva, the ideal is eternal and is free to be possessed by whoever wishes to possess it. But the strategy of Sangha would ever be decided only by its ahdikaris, and the case of BJP is one of strategy, we have to leave the last word to the Adhikaris.
Plot to kill Modi
Plot to kill Modi
Four persons shot dead in an encounter. From whom did the Gujarat Police (GP) get information that the persons in the car were Lashkar terrorists on their way to kill Modi? Did such information also authorise the GP to shoot to kill? Was the source so impeccable that GP could act decisively on their word? I think the whole case hinges on the status of the informant. Was his relay of information to be taken as authoritative and actionable? Who was he and how was he connected GP? Can GP be certain that the call came from the authoritative source they claim it came from? Could it not have been from an agent provocateur?
The other point is, were any of the occupants of the car a bonafide terrorist? Does GP have conclusive prove? Were the terrorists on their surveillance even before the encounter? Or at least was the informant quite certain that they were terrorists?
One thing is clear, if any of the occupants is proved to be a terrorist, then all that can be said of the girl is “hard luck”, even if she was innocent. For the war against terrorism cannot be lost on account of half-measures. Give them half a chance and they would escape. Remember, they are trained, Pakistan-trained probably.
The other question is, why were they not captured alive? Legal loopholes would enable them to establish their innocence. They would live another day to commit mayhem.
No innocent should be killed. All the police have to do is to prove that they were Lashkar-e-Toyiba members or even Pakistanis without visas and they certainly have a licence to kill.
Modi
Four persons shot dead in an encounter. From whom did the Gujarat Police (GP) get information that the persons in the car were Lashkar terrorists on their way to kill Modi? Did such information also authorise the GP to shoot to kill? Was the source so impeccable that GP could act decisively on their word? I think the whole case hinges on the status of the informant. Was his relay of information to be taken as authoritative and actionable? Who was he and how was he connected GP? Can GP be certain that the call came from the authoritative source they claim it came from? Could it not have been from an agent provocateur?
The other point is, were any of the occupants of the car a bonafide terrorist? Does GP have conclusive prove? Were the terrorists on their surveillance even before the encounter? Or at least was the informant quite certain that they were terrorists?
One thing is clear, if any of the occupants is proved to be a terrorist, then all that can be said of the girl is “hard luck”, even if she was innocent. For the war against terrorism cannot be lost on account of half-measures. Give them half a chance and they would escape. Remember, they are trained, Pakistan-trained probably.
The other question is, why were they not captured alive? Legal loopholes would enable them to establish their innocence. They would live another day to commit mayhem.
No innocent should be killed. All the police have to do is to prove that they were Lashkar-e-Toyiba members or even Pakistanis without visas and they certainly have a licence to kill.
Modi
Godhra
Godhra
It is amazing that Godhra should be suspected to be a plot by Hindutva forces. Can anyone imagine that the arsonists would target their own people in such large numbers? Or is the charge that they meant only minimal damage - enough to trigger of systematic protests to build up a convenient political climate? That they did not bargain for the incineration of a whole coach and, faced with a fait accompli, they engineered a pogrom? Lalu’s probe, sure enough, would come up with such a finding. Therefore we ought to wait for the Nanavati report, likely to be more unbiased.
20.10.05
A writer to the editor writes, “In a railway coach made of steel, a fire can start only from inside, as the inflammable material has to be inside. But whether the fire started because of something that happened inside the compartment or outside, is of course a different matter altogether.” This thought ought to be seized if there is an attempt to confuse with inside/outside play of words - with all 'inside' pointing to homegrown culprits and 'outside' indicating Mullahs.
It is amazing that Godhra should be suspected to be a plot by Hindutva forces. Can anyone imagine that the arsonists would target their own people in such large numbers? Or is the charge that they meant only minimal damage - enough to trigger of systematic protests to build up a convenient political climate? That they did not bargain for the incineration of a whole coach and, faced with a fait accompli, they engineered a pogrom? Lalu’s probe, sure enough, would come up with such a finding. Therefore we ought to wait for the Nanavati report, likely to be more unbiased.
20.10.05
A writer to the editor writes, “In a railway coach made of steel, a fire can start only from inside, as the inflammable material has to be inside. But whether the fire started because of something that happened inside the compartment or outside, is of course a different matter altogether.” This thought ought to be seized if there is an attempt to confuse with inside/outside play of words - with all 'inside' pointing to homegrown culprits and 'outside' indicating Mullahs.
Hunger
Hunger
18.06.04
How we react when we become hungry is an example of how perilous conditioning is. When we are hungry we rush to satisfy our hunger by setting (or getting set) our table in the dining room (or buying food across the counter). The key word in the previous sentence is ‘rush’. The slightest rumblings of hunger and we are off towards food. In other words, we succumb with lighting speed. Do not succumb. Watch your hunger build up within you. There is a probability that the hunger will pass, having come on in the first place only as a consequence of habit – the approaching hour that was fed the previous day, for instance.
18.06.04
How we react when we become hungry is an example of how perilous conditioning is. When we are hungry we rush to satisfy our hunger by setting (or getting set) our table in the dining room (or buying food across the counter). The key word in the previous sentence is ‘rush’. The slightest rumblings of hunger and we are off towards food. In other words, we succumb with lighting speed. Do not succumb. Watch your hunger build up within you. There is a probability that the hunger will pass, having come on in the first place only as a consequence of habit – the approaching hour that was fed the previous day, for instance.
Autobiography - skeletal
I was born just past mid-night on 10th May, 1955 in a rubber estate named Beradin Estate in the Southern Malaysian State of Johore, where my father was then a Rubber-tapping Conductor. The 50s were the years of communist insurgency in Malaya and rubber estates were particularly hostile territory to the British led counter-insurgency army stationed in the peninsula. The rubber estates in Malaya in those days were almost all owned by the British and had British managers and Indian staff (the pattern being, Syrian Christian Superintendents, Latin Christian Compounders, Nair tapping conductors and Tamil labourers – Nadars? Mudaliars? - almost always). My father hoped to take mother and child to the nearest town Kluang for post-natal check-up in the morning but the day of my birth coincided with a communist upsurge in the region and the local government had imposed curfew. My worried father went the British Manager to seek a way out. He agreed no risk should be taken and he asked my father to use his bullet-proof chauffer-driven limousine with an armed bodyguard. I was thus taken to the hospital in grand style.
10th May, 1955 - my date of birth
Beraddin Estate - the Estate where I was born
Kunhiraman Nair - my father - He served in the Indian Army (under the British then) and was in the Engineering Dept. Stores. A few years later he left the Army.
Padmavathi - my mother - a tireless spick-and-span-homemaker - loved to read in her afternoon breaks.
Chandramohan - my brother - worked only in one company all through his career, with a long break in-between.
Geeta - my sister-in-law (Adethiamma) - a gracious and cultured lady, in later years suffered from a sense of lack, maybe on having missed out on the material life.
Anand - my nephew - book-worm, has had a dream career run so far.
Sarath - my younger nephew
Dr. Sivaraman Nair - Adethiamma's father - a Krishna Bhakth, also seemed to have had a sense of lack.
Vijayan – Swami Janardhananda - Adethiamma's brother, who became a sanyasi at a young age.
Radha - Adethiamma's younger sister. Her family proposed her for me while fixing my brother's marriage. Lucky for her, she escaped being betrothed to a boorish me. Govind - Radha's husband.
M.R. Nair - my father often said that M.R. Nair was his best friend. He was what they called a compounder, a person who doubled up as a doctor in rubber estates.
His Telengu wife
Krishnan - He was one of the three staff who occupied three bungalows adjacent to one another in Beraddin Estate. (The other two being occupied by my father and M.R. Nair. Krishnan's bungalow was between both.)
Bukit Jalil Estate - That's the estate adjacent to Kinrara Estate.
Kluang - A small town near Johore. It was where I went schooling, staying with Mrs. Mathews.
Mrs. Mathews - she ran a boarding establishment and my brother and myself were there, my brother for six years.
Umesh - Mrs. Mathew's daughter's son.
Molly - Mrs. Mathew's daughter.
Tungku Abdul Rehman School - The school where I studied in standard one, named after Malayasia's first Prime-Minister.
Thomas - One of the masters at Tungku Abdul Rehman School. He was aslo a visitor to Mrs. Mathew's establishment.
Johore - That's the southern-most state in peninsula Malaya.
Johore Bahru - that's the town where I had my eye operation.
Eye Hospital - I recollect being tied to the hospital cot so as not to itch my just operated eye.
1963
Kinrara Estate
[Island & Peninsular has made for itself a huge name in Puchong as a middle- to upper-class developer. The flagship development, is of course, Bandar Kinrara near Bukit Jalil. This huge development is actually held under its subsidiary Perumahan Kinrara Berhad, and is set on the former Kinrara estate land and was famous for it’s military camp and hospital. PKB is actually jointly owned by Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera and Lembaga Tabung Haji, hence the military connection. (entry from internet on 22.05.06)]
Hey, it appears part of Kinrara Estate has become a cricket venue. No less than Sachin Tendulkar played at Kinrara Oval. Maybe he hit those on-the-way-to-century sixes over my home of long ago?
Philips - He was the compounder at Kinrara Estate.
Mary - his wife. Taught me how to play cards, to keep her away from boredom.
Seena - Marychechi's daughter. Was quite attached to my mother.
M.A. Nair - he was the compounder who came after Philips left.
Sandiago - M.A. Nair's foster son.
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's enchanting capital.
La Salle Brickfields - I studied there from 3rd standard to 9th class - Form 3 (LCE). I never got into second standard because I got a double promotion from 1st standard.
Dennis Armstrong - Principal of the secondary section at La Salle Brickfields, if I am right. A muscular karate black belt.
Ratnasinggam - Principal of the whole school?.
L.A. Fernandez - Principal of the primary section? I might have got my principals at the wrong sections.
Mrs. Mahendra - One of my exquisitely beautiful teachers. My father arranged a cook for her from our estate.
Lee Kok Wan - the brightest of sparks. He got first rank in Form III.
G. Ramachandran - a heroic guy, simply called 'G'.
Peter D’Souza
Mariam Alexander - one of my heroes.
Arul - my brother's friend. His brother, it was rumoured, was invovled in a police inspector's murder during the estate festival. He stayed near the estate and I used to go to his place when I started riding the motorcycle. I first rode Yamaha and then Honda.
24th April, 1970 - the day we landed at Meenambakum Airport from K.L.
Madras
Thousand Lights - where the police quarters were.
Narayanan Nair - my 'Uncle' - was in the IB (in its political wing, was attached to MGR and even Annadurai).
Sreedharan - my cousin brother.
Usha - Sreedhara Atten's wife. Sankunni Ammama's daughter.
Chandraatten - Madras Valiyamma's eldest son. The eldest of our generation. Passed away the day my mother suffered stroke.
1st May 70 - Moved from Madras to Nellaya. Got down at Ottapalam. Got into a '54 Chrysler taxi, drove through Nellaya right upto Pattambi till my father awoke from his nostalgic reverie and did a turnabout. What a miss . . . 12 years later.
Kaikulath House - The adjunct house to the Tarawad.
Bhargavi Amma -
Kumaran Ammama - his long spells away from home were legendary in the family.
Rathanavathi
Radhakrishnan
Usha - Lata's elder sister who sadly passed away around her 8th birthday. How forlorn Radhakrishnatten must have been.
Lata
Chandrasekharan - my evergreen cousin brother.
Bhaskaran Ammama - played Lakshman to my father's Rama in real life. My father was fortunate to have had such an upright brother like him. Looked after the construction of our house and before that, when we were all in Malaysia, our paddy fields. Everyone used to day that someone else given the task would have usurped everything.
Sreenivasan - Bhaskaran Ammama's son.
Variatten - educated, but remained in the village and concentrated on farming. In calibre, he would have eventually been appointed as a Tata Director if he had joined Tatas when he was just out of school. Variatten passed away in April 07.
Prabhatten - came after me to Muscat. Ex-serviceman driver.
Eshodhachechi
Vishala edathi
Leela edathi
Indira
Sethumadhavan
Sarada edati
Dasan
Gopalakrishnan - Gobtatten - the most handsome, virile man I have ever met, with probably the exception of Mahmood Macki.
Pangajakshan
Krushithodi House
Seethaamma
Janaki Amma
Gopalan Nair
Devi
Sri Devi
Mohanann
Meenakshi Amma
Keshavan Nair
Gopiatten
Vijayadathi
Chandratten
Rajan
Indira
Padmini
Priya
Unni
Mani
Babu
Kannan
Nellaya Variam
Sree Devi Walsiar
Bhaskara Varier
Achuthanandan Master
Kunjumal Chetichiyar
Padmavathi
Vinod Kumar
Sreeja
Narayanan Kutty (Anian)
Narayanan Kutty
Padmaja
Pattambi
Dr. Unnikrishnan
Mani atedhi
Appu
Shivji
January 1975
Muscat
Muscat Overseas Agencies Company
Mahmood Macki
Douglas Clifford Drummond
Peter Drummond
Asnapath Sahul Hameed
Ahmed (photographer)
Surendran
Abdul Razak
Mathai
RC
Ruwi (opp. Al Haythem)
Taher Ali Al Jamali - son of the venerable His Excellency Ali Al Jamali, who was Oman's ambassador to India for a long time.
Sana
Laythe
Ruwi High Road
Kamal
Mohammad
Camilia
1982 – Sangha Pracharak
Vishva Hindu Parishad
Kashi Vishvanathan
Parlikad Ashram
Swami Dayananda Saraswathi
Swami Bhoomananda
Pavakulam Mahadeva Temple
Purushotam Embranthari
Kummanam Rajashekaran
Venu
Murali
Swayamsevaks
Sreekumar
Madhava Nivas
Mohanji
Bhaskar Rao Kalambe - he was verily one of Vivekananda's Man with a capital M.
Hariatten (Ranga Hari) - is there born a more brilliant man than Hariatten? Really, he ought not to have walked through the world so low-profile.
Madhvji - the man who mastered the occult sciences. I did not belive he would die.
Parameswarji - the sage of our times.
R. Venugopal - the regal pracharak. His real wealth was his positive outlook.
Kudu Sar - .... and then there was Kabadi's own Kudu Sar!
Sethuatten - the most masculine of men - would have given Jayan a run for his money had he been exposed to the mega screen. Swayamsevak incarnate.
P.P. Mukundan - Hey Mukundatten, what trouble have you got into? I know you have done it all for Sangha. But why were you not able to take others along with you?
M.A. Sar - He is the man who seizes all he surveys with his intellect and converts it to organizational relevance.
Madras
Sheshagiri Brothers
Sheshagiri
Balasubramaniam
Lakshmanan
Sreedhar
Cecilia
Hydrotech Engineers
Vinod Ahimaz
Shivakumar
19th January, 1985
Sathyabhama - a sprightly lass. My better half. Unfortunately for her, I was the worst half she could have had.
Arjun - the detached.
Ambika - she has an aura of forlon-ness.
Poomangalam Parameswaran Nair/Swami Parameshwarananda - he has discovered the truth, but his forlon-ness is that he was unable to share it with all whom he wanted to.
Koluttil Subadra -
Sivan
Sathyabhama
Sudha
Mohan
Sushma
Santosh
G.K. Shetty
Ramanna
Ivan . . .
Mumbai
B.J. Mistry
Hosi Mistry
Engineer
Muscat
Desert Line LLC
Johnny
Thomas
Sandhu Singh
Julie
Parekh
Balasubramaniam
Joy
Vasu
Mr. John
Reena
Bijesh
Sandesh
Al Hassan LLC
Vasanthan
Habeeb
Saad
Mumbai
Anand Rathi
Padmanabhan
Mahendra
Kerala
Valuvanad Vidya Bhavan
Venugopalan Thamburan
Krishnadas
Parthan
C.P. Janardhanan
Mumbai
Airoli
Jagjivan Apartments
Mishra
Pallonji Mistry
Saptarishi Apartments
Autoriksha Driver
Rajesh Khatwani
S.M. Kapoor & Co.
Shashi Mohan Kapoor
Shukla Kapoor
Vivek Kapoor
Shveta Kapoor
Vidur Kapoor
Shekhar Gulzarilal Gupta
Neelam Gupta
Tini
Mrs. Renu Kapoor
Sanjay Kapoor
Rakesh Kapoor
Naina
Eknath Mulem
Gopinath Ghadi
Sanjay Choudhary
Sanjay Godbole
Shubham
Govind Prasad Agarwal
Abha Sharma
Subhangi Pastha
Shashank
Ravi
Geeta
Radha
Icon Prints
Job
Manual
Isha Steel
Manikkam
Seth Leasing
Deepak
Surendra Gupta
Sharma
Nagarkar Associates
Gulab Singh
Kewalraj & Co.
Vedian
Orkay
Mesquita
Virat Apartments
Nigam
Sahayog Apartments
Nair - an estate agent, gentlemanly behaviour.
Sangam Apartments
Virat Apartments
Gaikwad -
Thakkur - my neighbour at Virar (second stay). Broke his leg in an accident. Was in plaster. Not in touch really. Rememeber, I am a recluse.
Shakha
Mahesh - Arjun says he is the best of organisers.
Krishnan - handsome. Would have been good a sampark, had he time away from his professional calling. Right person to influence womenfolk in the family.
Joshi - Joshi shishak - a 'to the bones' swayamsevak. Got hurt when his qualified daughter was overlooked for job in a Sangha institution for an 'outsider'.
Karyalay - that's in Churchgate.
Prabhakar Rai - was Pracharak in Churchgate and later came down to Navi Mumbai. Brought Arjun to the shakha. Will he lead Arjun to pracharakship?
Pramod - a swayamsevak from B'lore. Worked in Navi Mumbai as computer engineer.
Nagarkar Associates - Ambika got her first job here.
Bhaskaran - is a Malayalee, IRS.
Z.B. Nagarkar - owner of the company, also an IRS.
Bhagyavan - the office boy there.
Gulab Singh - the accountant - a fiery Rajput.
Mahmood Macki - what a personality he had - an invincible personality indeed.
Kashi Vishvanath - He could easily have been the chairman of a multi-national corporation. But in VHP, he was tolerated, not accepted. A good public speaker, he had a way of putting off workers.
Sheshagiri - what a smile he had. A family man. He would by now be a patriach. Wise and pragmatic.
Vinod Ahimaz - he had a swagger. Had the friendliest of partners - I forgot his name ......... ah yes, Shivakumar. They could not a moment be without each other.
G.K. Shetty - moneyed. Egoistic. Wanted to be recognised by his community as a patriach.
Parameswarji - a meld of spirituality and scholarship. A titan of thought. He ought to have become the President of India.
P.P. Mukundan, a nuts and bolts man. Could get the best out of workers. Exceedingly pragmatic. Got snared in materialism.
Bomanji Jamshedji Mistry, a rich father figure. Very shophisticated person, what with owning a 5-star hotel and all that. When the Berlin wall fell, he advised his friends there to consider the bricks as a business proposition!
Sheikh Ahmed Farid al Awlaki - said to be one of the richest persons in the Middle-East. His second wife, who was in Oman, used to charter planes to go intercontinental shopping. Sent deep sea divers to break into the strong room of a World War II sunken American ship off the Oman coast to ferret out silvor ignots. Made a killing on it.
Al Hassan, pious senior and pragmatic junior. Very upright in business. Shias.
Anand Rathi - A very charismatic person, handsome, master chartered accountant. Was President of Bombay Stock Exchange. Would have gone higher had not a sting operation seen his fall from eminence. He was not guilty of any wrong-doing in seeking to understand stock-positions, but some rule had it that he was not supposed to know that! Fancy, the President being ignorant of the goings-on under his own watch. In his case it proved that the law is an ass. I heard from his secretary Padmanabhan later that he went on to make even more money with his formidable knowledge on money-matters.
C.P. Janardhanan - hero to many - RSS legend in Malapuram. He could have been a general in any army.
Rajesh Khatwani - stylish, classy. Could keep his company running in style though major contracts were not forthcomming for a long time. His dad stacked well when the going was good.
S.M. Kapoor – Senior CA. Of the old school. Nephew of the famous Justice H.R. Khanna.
these are the folks who owned/led the company/institution where I worked.
=============================================
I am a stenographer with over 30 years experience in different types of commercial and professional companies and also with NGOs, both in India and in the Gulf. Aged 53, I now wish to work with someone interested in dictating to produce literary works. Would be willing to work as full timer if provided food and lodge.
Comments on collegues
Gopinath Ghadi
One of my colleagues. Has a weird sense of humour but is more sagacious then you would suppose. Good at his job, but would not fail to extract a premium on whatever job done and crow a lot about his prowess!
Eknath Mulem
Is quite a hard-working colleague. But always seems to disappear when the bosses have called it a day. He is actually an awesome wonder. He can understand and pick-out quite a number of things from a file, though he is not English-literate.
Sanjay Choudhary
Debonair young man, can be appropriately aggressive and get things done.
Sanjay Godbole
A genius, is rather impatient with slow responses. However, he often appears to bite more than he can chew.
Govind Agarwal
Capable of working at lightning speed. A very patient person too and has clear-cut ideas on everything. Says he has always been unlucky at the stock-market. So whenever the market crashes, I am terror stricken - is Govindji trapped in the debris?
Shekhar Gupta
A gentleman to the core, is rather impatient with details and would prefer to work on the larger picture.
S.M. Kapoor
Highly respected among his fraternity, is a stickler for legal propriety.
Nandakumar
Kapoor Saab’s driver, he is a master crossword puzzlist. He is in the Ambedkar mould, prizing academic attainments.
Kundan Shinde
A very pleasant and humble person. Diligent and intelligent, he is bound to rise in the career graph.
One of my colleagues. Has a weird sense of humour but is more sagacious then you would suppose. Good at his job, but would not fail to extract a premium on whatever job done and crow a lot about his prowess!
Eknath Mulem
Is quite a hard-working colleague. But always seems to disappear when the bosses have called it a day. He is actually an awesome wonder. He can understand and pick-out quite a number of things from a file, though he is not English-literate.
Sanjay Choudhary
Debonair young man, can be appropriately aggressive and get things done.
Sanjay Godbole
A genius, is rather impatient with slow responses. However, he often appears to bite more than he can chew.
Govind Agarwal
Capable of working at lightning speed. A very patient person too and has clear-cut ideas on everything. Says he has always been unlucky at the stock-market. So whenever the market crashes, I am terror stricken - is Govindji trapped in the debris?
Shekhar Gupta
A gentleman to the core, is rather impatient with details and would prefer to work on the larger picture.
S.M. Kapoor
Highly respected among his fraternity, is a stickler for legal propriety.
Nandakumar
Kapoor Saab’s driver, he is a master crossword puzzlist. He is in the Ambedkar mould, prizing academic attainments.
Kundan Shinde
A very pleasant and humble person. Diligent and intelligent, he is bound to rise in the career graph.
Destiny
Destiny
17.06.04
Is everything that happens to us and even everything that we do predestined? It seems there is a pattern to social evolution or whatever and this is traced through the discipline of History. Even simple observation makes it clear that there seems to be a constant ratio between say doctors and carpenters or between any or all professions, thereby taking the world in a predetermined direction. So the world is moving ahead according to God’s plan and that’s man’s destiny. Since freedom is something that man cannot seem to do without, how can it reconcile – destined man and free man? I say we are destined and the freedom given to us is to watch our destiny unfold. If we are unable to watch our destiny unfold, we would only be missing the drama. Is it also destiny that dramas are missed? That’s the whole point. Destiny is only as pertains to the outside or material world. Freedom pertains to the inside or spiritual world. So when the scriptures declare that man is free, it is speaking of the spiritual man. The tragedy is when man seeks freedom in the external world and wrests with his destiny for a more ‘comfortable’ deal.
17.06.04
Is everything that happens to us and even everything that we do predestined? It seems there is a pattern to social evolution or whatever and this is traced through the discipline of History. Even simple observation makes it clear that there seems to be a constant ratio between say doctors and carpenters or between any or all professions, thereby taking the world in a predetermined direction. So the world is moving ahead according to God’s plan and that’s man’s destiny. Since freedom is something that man cannot seem to do without, how can it reconcile – destined man and free man? I say we are destined and the freedom given to us is to watch our destiny unfold. If we are unable to watch our destiny unfold, we would only be missing the drama. Is it also destiny that dramas are missed? That’s the whole point. Destiny is only as pertains to the outside or material world. Freedom pertains to the inside or spiritual world. So when the scriptures declare that man is free, it is speaking of the spiritual man. The tragedy is when man seeks freedom in the external world and wrests with his destiny for a more ‘comfortable’ deal.
Ramjanmabhoomi - ASI Report
ASI Report
The ASI report concludes that ‘a massive and monumental structure’ existed ‘just below the disputed structure’ and by all accounts it was a temple. This conclusion is a breakthrough towards resolving the dispute. The report vindicates the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Moreover, this report would be more de rigueur than even a Supreme Court judgement could be. Court verdicts are often accepted in sufferance, but a report from a body of professionals like ASI goes beyond the unsettled nature of a subjective verdict.
The ASI report concludes that ‘a massive and monumental structure’ existed ‘just below the disputed structure’ and by all accounts it was a temple. This conclusion is a breakthrough towards resolving the dispute. The report vindicates the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Moreover, this report would be more de rigueur than even a Supreme Court judgement could be. Court verdicts are often accepted in sufferance, but a report from a body of professionals like ASI goes beyond the unsettled nature of a subjective verdict.
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